


Of Beasts, Pirates And Other Mythical Creatures

by Anonymous



Series: Of Stories Meant For The Dastardly Wicked And Blindingly Pure [1]
Category: Descendants 2 - Fandom, descendants - Fandom
Genre: Action, Adventure, Attempt at Humor, Betrayal, Canon compliant-ish, Developing Friendships, F/M, Falling In Love, Heartbreak, M/M, Magic, Multi, Other stuff I forgot now but might add later, Revenge, Romance, Slash, Slow Burn, The description is shit but the story is slightly less shitty, various magical creatures - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-02
Updated: 2018-09-13
Packaged: 2018-12-23 00:10:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 132,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11978013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Some relationships start with hello, others start with kidnappings and sword fights. It's all just the same in the end really.OrThe author sucks at summaries and this is a slow burn about Ben and Harry but the author still loves Mal and Bal.





	1. First Rate Dates and First Rate Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Happily ever after? Not quite yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm in a 'screw it' kind of mood. Not much stories on this ship sooo why not? There are easter eggs in there, from the books and/or movies...I wonder if you can find them.

It had been a week since the Royal Cotillion. 

For the past seven days Evie and Ben would check the royal list for more kids that needed to be sent from the Isle to Auradon. The two worked their damnedest as they continued to send more and more revised versions of the list to the workers that went to the Isle to ask the children if they wanted to leave and live in Auradon. A few said yes easily, and practically already had their bags packed (It wasn't as if they had much to pack) the others...gave the invitation a less then welcomed response.

"That's another no from yet another isle kid." Evie stated as she sat down on the couch in Ben's office. Ben, per usual, at his desk with his head in his hands.

"No? I didn't know spitting on a paper equaled a yes or no." Ben said.

"I think it was heavily implied." Evie responded.

"Not as heavy as that loogie that kid spat." Ben and Evie both shuddered after Ben said that. Ben got out of this chair and began to pace around the room. "I don't get it! These kids have been living in filth and degradation all their lives and when they are literally handed an opportunity to get away from all that on a silver platter, they throw back in our faces?"

"Maybe it wasn't the best idea to actually hand out the invitations on an actual platter. It makes it seem like we're trying too hard." Evie said.

"BUT WE ARE TRYING TOO HARD!" Ben yelled. Evie sent a harsh glare at him for raising his voice at her and it immediately calmed him down...or at least got him to lower his voice.

"I'm sorry for yelling. It's just that we keep sending out invites to more and more kids and it's utterly backfiring in our faces and it's very frustrating being stuck like this." Ben said. Evie's eyes soften and she got up from the couch and put a hand on Ben's shoulder.

"I get it. I want nothing more than to help them too. But take it from someone who's lived on the isle as long, if not longer, than them. We're taught to take what we want and not have it handed to us. We're taught that there's nothing to Auradon but prissy pink princesses and pathetic princes. The Isle of the Lost has been a prison for over twenty years. It's gonna take more than an announcement and fancy paper for everyone to forget what they've been taught." 

Ben sighed. "I know," he conceded. "I just wish there was something we could do to get it done and help them faster." Ben's short time on the Isle gave him real perspective on the lives he's supposed to take care of. His talk with Uma did that too. They were all practically raising themselves for the most part.

"There is a solution...we just don't know it yet. Now, it's almost sunset, don't you have a date with Mal you should be going too?" It had been an agreement between Mal and Ben that during the day they were both free to do whatever they needed to do but at night they had each other to themselves. They learned their lesson from their first major argument.

"You're right I better head down to the lake before I'm late and Mal turns me into a toad." Ben said as he grabbed his jacket. "She wouldn't turn you into a toad." Evie said. Ben gave her a look of confusion. "She'd think that's way too cliche. She'd probably do something more creative like a dragonfly or something." Evie smirked. 

Ben gave her a dry laugh as they headed for the door. "You have any plans Evie? Maybe with Doug?" He asked. "The only hot date I have tonight is with my design book and some fabric. Doug went to visit his father and uncles in the mines and Carlos and Jay are off doing something stupid most likely." She responded. They walked down the hallways waving to various students.

"That fabric should consider itself very lucky." Ben joked. "Careful, your with Mal, not me." Evie joked back. They began to go their separate ways as Evie's room was a few hallways away and Ben was going toward the front doors. 

"Don't worry, I'm much more into purple hair." He smirked. Evie fake gasped. "I hope you fall into that lake!" she shouted. 

"If I'm late, Mal will push me in!" He shouted back. Evie rolled her eyes and walked away as Ben left. Sketchbook, here she comes.

* * *

Ben ran down to the lake trying not to be later than he was. He was really committed to actually hanging out with his girlfriend other than waving to each other in the halls. As he approached their spot, the color of bright purple caught his eye. Mal was sitting in the middle of the structure staring out into the lake.

"You're late." Mal said in a sing song voice. She didn't even have to turn around. "Maybe, but better late than never." Ben said as he sat down next to her. Mal let out a laugh. "Man, the VK's and I are really starting to rub off on you."

"What can I say, you guys are infectious." 

"Like a fungus."

"Mal, that's a horrible comparison!"

"I know, know. I couldn't think of anything else. You really can't take me anywhere." The two of them burst out laughing. It felt good. The weight of being the popular couple was off them and they were just being themselves. Like from the beginning.

In the midst of all their laughing, Mal conjured some strawberries in front of them. "I still don't get how you can do that without your spell book." Ben questioned. "It's pretty easy." Mal said while munching on a strawberry. "The book is more of a guide than the access to my powers. As long as the intent is there with some structure, I can pretty much do whatever I want." Mal explained.

"Anything?" Ben asked.

"In all technicalities, yes. But wider scale things require more practice, energy and magic. It's not like I can randomly go around cursing people if that's what your worried about." Ben almost choked on his strawberry at that comment. He shook his head and started to speak but Mal cut him off. "Don't worry, I don't think you think of me like that. I just wanted to confirm it. Besides, I'm trying to limit the spell casting and actually gain some skills. I just do little magic here and there so I don't get rusty."

"That is very admirable." Ben said. Mal smiled. "I try. So how's it going with the VK transfers?" She asked. Ben explained to her all the difficulties they were having without going into too much detail about the rejections. Some of them were just plain rude and/or disgusting. He also told her about what Evie had said earlier.

Mal nodded. "Evie's right. It's definitely going to be a challenge to get them to accept. I know I wouldn't have come if it wasn't for my mother's plan..but I'm glad I did." Mal grabbed Ben's hand and he smiled shyly.

"That's my point exactly. You were considered one of the baddest of the bad and you love it here. You and Jay, Evie and Carlos. Shouldn't more VK's want to come over more than ever?" Ben reasoned.

"I think that's the problem right there." Mal pointed out. Ben looked confused. "Like you said, me, Jay, Carlos and Evie were considered to be the worst. When we came here the villains were upset but kept their shit together because they thought we were only coming here to steal the wand and break the barrier. Originally, we were but then this place became home and we chose good. The villains and VK's saw this as a huge betrayal. Just look at Uma and her gang. They were ready to make us all walk the plank. When the gang and I still had a stronger pull on the island I'd get your point but now we'd just make things harder." Mal explained. Ben sat there in silence as he pondered her words.

"So your saying that I have the right idea trying to convince others to come here by showing how some of the baddest even prefer it here..."

"But your using the wrong names that still have a lot of influence." Mal finished. This was all starting to make sense to Ben. He and Evie had the right idea, just the wrong people.

"So who would have enough influence?" Ben asked. "You really want to know?" Ben nodded. "Uma and her crew." Mal admitted. Ben's eyes widen. Not because he thought Uma was a bad choice, he was just surprised Mal openly admitted it like that. Looks like Auradon really was rubbing off on her. "I see your point but one problem." Ben said. "Last time we saw Uma she put a love spell on me, tried to take down the barrier, then transformed into an octopus and fought with you, who had turned into a dragon."

"Ah yes! But thanks to your peace speech, Uma stopped attacking and even gave you back your, technically mine now, ring and then swam off. Plus, gaining new powers is always cool." Mal finished.

"Okay, but another problem, Uma and her gang hasn't been heard from since cotillion. Granted, we weren't really looking but there still hasn't been a peep." Ben said.

"Think of it this way, within twenty years, there have only been two moments in which the barrier could've been taken down forever and they both failed. The first by yours truly and friends and the second by Uma. The gang and I were lucky, we didn't have to return to the isle and face the shame. Uma does. If I'm being honest, I wouldn't be making commotion so soon either." Mal reasoned.

"So how would I find Uma? And more importantly, even if I did find Uma, how in world would I get her to work with me? 

"Well, Ursula's possessions are in the museum, if you can get Ursula's old orb that she used to spy on people, you might be able to use that since she and Uma are blood. I'm assuming with Fairy Godmother's permission, you could get her or someone else who's willing and powerful enough to cast a locating spell throughout all the land. As for getting her to work with you, she's just like her mother when it comes to deals, she'll only work with you if there's something in it for her. And with a favor of this magnitude...:"

"It would have to be big. Really big." Ben finished. "Exactly." Despite the complications, Ben felt more confident than ever in being able to fulfill his royal proclamation than just five people (including Dizzy). He had to run this by Evie tomorrow. Ben faced Mal. "Look at you being all Lady of the Court like. You came up with that plan wicked fast." Ben complimented. Mal smirked, "I try, I try." Mal grabbed the last two strawberries from the bowl and gave one to Ben.

"A toast to coming up with new plans..." Mal started. "And functional dates." Ben added to the sentence. They pushed their strawberries together to toast except these strawberries were very tender so the sudden contact practically had the strawberries collapse into Mal and Ben's hands. They ate the mess of strawberries in their hands and started laughing at how ridiculous each other looked.

"Man, you really can't take us anywhere." Ben stated.

Mal burst into laughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the sake of the story, just pretend that water bubble thing Ursula used to spy on people in The Little Mermaid is an orb. It's less complicated that way.


	2. Fabric Theifs and Bad Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben starts to put a plan in motion...or at least he tries too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own the characters. Have fun. Also, has anyone read Hooks and Poison Apples? Fan of Evie/Harry Hook pairing or not...that's a good story. Like really good.

The next day Ben woke up earlier than usual to get Evie and to start the plan he and Mal accidentally came up with yesterday. Ben quickly got ready and raced through the halls to find Evie. When he got to Mal and Evie's dorm room he found Jay and Carlos rummaging through Evie's stuff. 

"What are you guys doing?" Ben asked. Carlos and Jay froze being caught red handed with red and white fabric in their hands. "So much for being a master thief." Carlos muttered to Jay. "I live in Auradon now, I'm a little rusty!" Jay defended. Jay and Carlos began to bicker back and forth and wouldn't stop until Ben finally raised his voice.

"GUYS! What are you doing?" 

"It's not what it looks like." Jay began. "So your not taking fabric from the girls' room?" Ben asked 

"So it is kinda what it looks like." Carlos pitched in "but it's not as bad as you think." 

"Why do you need fabric and why couldn't you just get it from decorating hall or ask Evie herself?" Ben asked.

"Because Evie made me a really cool jacket that kept getting ripped somehow and it got to the point where she said 'bad things will happen if I have to fix this again' and you don't mess with Evie when it comes to fashion but of course this buffoon" Carlos gestured to Jay "Had to surprise tackle me for 'extra practice for tourney' and now there's a huge rip in the back and we have to fix it before Evie finds out and strangles us with a scarf." Carlos finished. 

This all made sense to Ben, especially since it was Carlos and Jay. "Do you guys even know how to fix or make clothes?" Ben asked. "How hard can it be?" Jay asked. "I've seen Evie create five dresses under an hour. I'm sure this'll take us like five minutes."  

"Wait, Ben, why are you here? Mal wanted to check in on her paintings in the art room and Evie went to go get you for the weekly check in with Fairy Godmother." Carlos asked. Ben winced. He completely forgot about the check ins. They were made up so that Fairy Godmother could review the work that Evie and Ben had put in for transferring other VK's to Auradon. It was the first check in and they had nothing. At least not yet, which reminded Ben that he needed to find Evie...fast.  

"I completely forgot about the check ins!" Ben exclaimed. "I gotta go find Evie and tell her the plan before she gets to Fairy Godmother." As Ben turned to leave both of the boys called out for him to wait. 

"What plan?" They both asked simultaneously.

"I'll tell you guys later, I just really have to find Evie." With that Ben ran out the door.

* * *

 

Ben barely caught Evie's hand before she turned the doorknob that led into Fairy Godmother's office.

"Ben? Where have you been? I've been looking all over for you!" Evie asked startled. Ben was out of breath from running throughout the school. His answer was broken up into pieces as he tried to breathe.

"Needed to find you--I ran-- to your room--but you weren't there--figured you went to my room--but you weren't there--Fairy Godmother's office--was the last--place I could think of--and here we are." Ben panted.

"Why'd you need me this early in the morning? It's not like we have any progress with the transfers." Evie said. After Ben got his plan back Ben told her about what Mal had said the night before. 

"Uma? That's our best shot? Dealing with Uma? I guess that's our only option. But Fairy Godmother's gonna go ballistic." 

"Which is why we need to convince her that despite this not being the usual method it's our best shot." Ben stated. Evie reluctantly nodded and opened the door into the headmistress's office.

* * *

 

Fairy Godmother was not pleased.

"Another deal? You two want to make another deal with girl who's first deal was to take my wand and break the barrier?" Fairy Godmother asked, fully knowing the answer. 

Evie stepped in. "Yes but we wouldn't make a deal of that great magnitude." 

"You asking her to convince her people to leave all that they've know for Auradon. The deal will be of great magnitude no matter what." Fairy Godmother stated. At this point, Ben felt like it was the right time to step in.

"With all due respect headmistress, Uma's people are my people too. The lengths I would go for Auradon should not be different than the lengths I would go for the Isle. And if we have to use less conventional methods to help the people of the Isle, then so be it." It was little moments like these that Ben had that made others remember that despite the fact that he's young, he's still the king but he was also a king that they'd would want to rule.

Fairy Godmother sighed, she was much more calm now but at this point she had stood up and was standing by the window. "I understand Ben, but what asking, goes against some of the oldest rules. I understand that you need to speak to Uma and I can allow that, I can even allow you making a deal as long as you check in with me about it first, but as for the locating spell I'm afraid I'm going to have to cross the line at that one. I can't cast that spell."

Evie and Ben nodded their heads and said their thanks before they left. It wasn't until they where in the hallways that Evie spoke up.

"Well we got half of what we wanted, better than nothing." 

"Your half right. We got everything we need. Including the locator spell." Ben said. Evie stopped in her tracks. The look on her face clearly said 'Explain'.

"Fairy Godmother said that she couldn't cast the spell. Not that no one could cast the spell." Ben explained.

"Points for loopholes but only a few people are powerful enough for that spell." Evie said. 

"Good thing we know one of those people." Ben referenced to Mal.  

"But what about the fact that Ursula's orb and location spell which is in Mal's spell book are in the museum, which are meant for looking, not touching. Especially not spell casting!" Evie exclaimed.

"It's not like it's you guys' first time 'borrowing' something from the museum."

"Okay fair, but...but." Evie was lost for words. Despite this being stupid, it actually wasn't a horrible plan...compared to others at least. "What's gotten into you Ben?"

"Nothing. I wasn't kidding when I said I'd go to the same lengths for the Isle as I would for Auradon. Those lengths just happen to be very long and wide."

Evie let out a dry chuckle before grabbing Ben's arm and dragging him to where the other VK's would probably be. They had a plan to commence.


	3. Schemes, Security and Glowing Scepters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time to put the plan into action.

Evie led Ben down to the tourney field where Jay was flirting with various cheerleaders, Carlos was hanging with Jane on the grass and Mal was sitting on the bleachers drawing in her sketchpad.

Evie told Ben to sit at the bleachers where Mal was at while she got the boys. Ben gave Mal a kiss on the cheek before he sat down.

"Hey you." Ben greeted.

"Hey yourself. What's up? Have you told Evie about our idea?" Mal asked.

"About that, per usual, there's a little trouble that we need help with." Mal raised an eyebrow. "I'll explain when Evie gets here." Ben said and Mal nodded.

Evie came back with Jay and Carlos in tow. She led them behind the bleachers where Mal and Ben followed. 

"Okay, someone tell me what's going on." Jay said. Mal and Carlos nodded in agreement. Evie and Ben explained the plan, what happened in Fairy Godmother's office, and the latest scheme. 

"So you want us to pull a heist?" Carlos asked.

"Only a temporary one. I don't like breaking the rules but we've really run out of options." Ben said.

"You could just wait until you come up with a solution that doesn't go against Fairy G." Jay suggested but Ben had a counter argument. 

"No I can't. The Isle has been waiting for twenty years, I'm tired of time passing and nothing being done." There was a silent agreement between the five of them. There were some changes to the Isle that needed to happen sooner rather than later. 

Carlos spoke up with his questions about the plan. "How would we even do this? When would we even do this? Just go in the museum and ask the security guard if we can borrow a magic orb to turn into pearls that would look really good on one of Evie's outfits?"

"No we wouldn't do that, obviously, but you might be onto something with pearls matching some of my outfits." Evie mused.

"And as for the spell, I'm assuming you want me to do it?" Mal interjected. 

"Only if it wouldn't be a problem for you. Do you think you could do it?" Ben asked 

"Could is the key word. This spell is gonna take a lot of magic since it's not just looking throughout Auradon but Auradon the Isle and everything in-between."

"YOUR MOM'S SCEPTER" The group was startled by Jay's outburst. He hadn't spoken in a while. 

"After your mom turned into a dragon then a lizard, she dropped her scepter and the guards confiscated it. It's in the museum too. You can siphon it's power or something like that while you castthe spell." Jay reasoned.

Mal nodded, "That could work. But like Carlos asked when would we do this?"

"Tonight! It's Friday and there's a tourney game today!." Evie said

"But me and Jay are gonna be playing tonight." Carlos questioned

"Exactly. During the first half of the game you guys play and then Carlos can fake an injury to get off the field..." 

"And during the game Jay can distract the crowd while playing..." Carlos interjected

"Meanwhile, Carlos can sneak off and meet up with me, Evie and Ben.." Mal added in

"And I can distract the guard by saying I have king stuff to tell him while Carlos hacks into the system..."

"And Mal and Evie can grab the orb, book and scepter and then get away without getting caught." Jay said

"Depending on how long it takes me to hack the system, we could be in and out in minutes." Carlos said.

"It looks like we've got a plan. Any questions?" Ben asked

"Just one," Jay said, "Who came up with this idea?" Evie looked at Ben. "You?" Jay sputtered

"What? It was a group effort and just because I'm from Auradon doesn't mean I can't be a little mischievous."

"Yes it does." The rotten four said simultaneously.

"Well look at me breaking the norms, is everybody good with the plan?" Ben asked. The group nodded.

"Why not, haven't had a good scheme in at least a week." Jay said. 

"And it's not like I'm gonna be playing much anyway." Carlos added. Jay put a supporting hand on his shoulder. "You'd be better if you stopped getting distracted by Jane." Carlos elbowed Jay in the side.

"Good. If all goes well, by this time tomorrow, we should be on the Isle making a deal with Uma." With that the group nodded and went their separate ways, mentally preparing for tonight. 

* * *

 

It was 7:30 at night as the tourney game started to begin. Everybody was in position, plan fresh in their head. Mal, Evie and Ben were sitting at the edge of the bleachers ready to leave at anytime. Mal and Evie wearing a purse or backpack for easy hiding spots. Carlos and Jay were on the benches where Carlos was doubling his socks to make it look swollen but still walkable. Meanwhile, Jay had eaten heaps of junk food for energy. It wouldn't really work but he wanted chocolate and he was already good at sports anyways.

 

The airhorn went off signaling that the game was starting. For awhile they played regularly. Nothing too obvious, nothing too subtle. As the game progressed, Jay slowly began to show off and while Carlos strategically began to slow down. During the middle of the game an opponent of the other team was chasing down Jay as he had the ball. If Jay scored this point, they'd be in the lead.

 

Carlos took this moment of opportunity and ran to where Jay was. Jay was in the kill zone dodging various obstacles and his opponent. Carlos ran into the kill zone and collided straight into the right side of the other teammate. They both fell down and Carlos made sure to fall down in a particularly awkward way that would make a bruised ankle seem realistic. Other teammate sitting on the bench went and carried Carlos to the benches.

 

"Carlos, are you alright? Can you still play?" Coach asked. Carlos shook his head. Coach looked disappointed but nodded and walked away leaving Carlos with an ice pack. Lying to his coach sucked but right now, he had to stick to the plan.

 

Right now, Coachs' feelings about the game weren't important, the audience had to keep their eyes on Jay.

 

Jay ran down the field and tossed the ball to Chad who caught it and started running. Jay ran in zig zags and occasionally flipped over other players to really put on a show. He made his way up to where Chad was and signaled him to toss him the ball. Chad obeyed and threw it into the air and Jay smack the ball with the stick like a baseball bat. It soared into the goal as the goalie ducked to not get hit and the crowd went wild.

 

The crowd cheering was the groups signal. Mal, Evie, Carlos and Ben disappeared into the crowd and made their way off the field. Jay kept the crowd busy by running up and down the field and waving to them. Eventually, he sat down at the bleachers since it was half time.

 

_"Okay. So Carlos said that it should take them twenty minutes max. If they're not back before then I'll have to get them back myself."_ Jay thought. He got up to go talk (more like flirt) to the cheerleaders. 

 

_ "Better keep up appearances." _

* * *

 

The four of them had managed to sneak in. Mal, Evie and Carlos were hiding behind columns while Ben walked up to the doors that led into the museum. Ben peered threw the doors windows. It was quiet save for the single security guard fidgeting in his seat. He was also directly next to Mal's spell book in the glass case. This also reminded Ben that he needed to amp up security. He knew this was Auradon but one security guard at night for protecting most, if not all, magical objects in the world was just pathetic...and plain stupid. He was about to steal the stuff he needed himself.

Ben snapped himself out of his thoughts and focused on the plan. Ben walked into the room with a big king friendly smile on his face. 

"Jefferson! Hello, it's good thing I found you here. I need your help with something." The old man clumsily got out of his chair and faced the king, only after he almost tripped over his own shoes. _"Really got to amp up security."_

"Your majesty, how can I help you?" Jefferson asked

"Well," Ben started "I was thinking that Auradon could use some new protection features. You know, really mix things up a bit to be 100 percent sure we're protected." Ben slung an arm around Jeffersons' shoulder and turned him around and used his other hand to signal that the others could come in. Ben tried his hardest to keep his voice natural. He's never pulled a heist before. 

Mal, Evie and Carlos crept in and hid behind various objects. As Ben kept talking, the three of them moved behind three statues of villains. Carlos was behind Captain Hook, Evie behind Gaston and Mal behind Ursula...oh the irony. 

Eventually, Ben led the security guard out the doors talking about where he wanted new cameras or something like that.

The three of them came out from behind the statue. Evie let out a big sigh. "Is it me or is this more stressful than it was six months ago?" she asked. "I know for a fact that I can't squat the way I used to." Carlos added in.

"Both of you hurry up! We don't have that much time." Mal stated in a loud whisper. Carlos made his way to the security computer. He may not be a mythical creature but he did have some magic of his own. It just happened to be with technology. Within two minutes, Carlos had the cases they needed unarmed.

Mal made her way over to her old book and snatched it. She replaced it with one of her old notebooks. Evie circled around the room until she found the orb sitting on a stand . She pulled a clear marble ball Mal made earlier today and replaced it on the stand and put the orb in her purse. Last was Maleficent's scepter. Evie ran upstairs to find Mal standing in front of it, completely frozen. Evie slowly walked up next to her but didn't say anything.

"My mom...did a lot bad with this thing." Mal explained as she gestured to the object. Evie grabbed her hand and made Mal look at her.

"And now we're about to do a lot of good with it...in a way." The two girls stood there in silence until Carlos broke it up from down below. "Guys, this is a super sweet friendship moment and all but we got less than ten minutes left and Ben can only distract for so long."  

Both of the girls snapped back into action and Mal forced herself to grab the scepter. As soon as Mal touched it her eyes flashed green and she dropped it.

"Mal! Are you okay?" Evie asked

"Yeah, that thing just has tons of stored up energy and magic in it." The girls were so concerned in Mal's health that they didn't notice Carlos viciously pointing to the scepter until he finally screamed. "GUYS! BEHIND YOU!"

Maleficent's scepter was off it's holding and fell onto another display. Nothing was broken but it did hit the force field and since Carlos had only taken down the security for three of the cases the alarms started going off. Carlos ran from his position up to the girls. 

"WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO?" he asked. 

"WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE!" Mal stated

"BUT WHAT ABOUT THE SCEPTER? WHAT DO WE REPLACE IT WITH?" Evie asked.

"NOTHING!" Mal screamed "WE'LL JUST HAVE TO BRING IT BACK BEFORE ANYONE NOTICES!"

"BEFORE ANYONE NOTICES?" Carlos questioned "THAT THINGS ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL OBJECTS IN THE WORLD. I THINK SOMEONE'S GONNA NOTICE!"

"WE DON'T HAVE A CHOICE." Evie said. Mal grabbed the scepter and the three of them ran downstairs where the door was opening to reveal Jefferson but no Ben. The three of them barely had enough time to dive behind a couple of counters and desks.

Carlos peaked his head to the side to see Jefferson lock the doors and call for backup. He looked at Mal who was diagonally across from him trying to hide herself and the scepter behind the desk.

"Mal, can't you cast a spell with that thing?" Carlos gestured to the staff.

"I can't! This thing's so uncontrollable that any spell without fully concentrating can go completely haywire!" Mal whispered.Carlos looked at Evie who was directly across from him. Her eyes were closed and he could tell that she was breathing deeply.

They were so screwed.

* * *

 

Ben frantically ran down back to the tourney field. When did things go so wrong? One minute he was distracting the security guard and the next, alarms were blaring, he was locked outside and his friends and girlfriend couldn't be found anywhere. He tried to come in but Jefferson was talking about some nonsense about the inside possibly not being safe for the king. His position really didn't work in his favor sometimes. Since he's king shouldn't he have unrestricted access? Oh well, his only resort now was to find Jay at the game and hope to whoever's listening above that they can think of something to save their friends.

At the game, Jay had changed positions from runner to goalie. Thank god. It would be much easier to talk to him with Jay running back and forth between the grass. Ben crouched his way through the bushes until he found the closest spot to the net. 

"Jay!" Ben whispered. Jay didn't even move. He tried it a little louder. This time, Jays head went right and left trying to find the source of the sound. _"Third time's the charm."_ Ben thought. Jay abruptly looked backwards before he turned around again to look natural.  

"Ben? What are you doing behind a bush? And what the hell took you guys so long?" Jay asked, trying to make it look like he wasn't talking to himself. He wasn't sure if he was succeeding or failing. Ben quickly explained what had happened.

"I knew I should've gone with you guys!"

"You couldn't have, the plan wouldn't have worked."

"The plan didn't work anyways! What are we gonna do?"

"I don't know!" Ben exclaimed. The two of them were absolutely dumbfounded as they tried to think think of a new plan. They came up blank but by sheer luck, one of the players utterly face planted into the ground and the coaches called for a short recess.

Ben and Jay bolted from the field and headed toward the library.

"What's the plan?" Ben asked.

"Get our friends, don't get caught and pray that Carlos and I don't get kicked off the team." Jay said.

"Good plan." agreed Ben. A voice from behind startled them enough to scream. "What's a good plan?" It was Lonnie.

Both of the boys stuttered until Jay came up with a reply. "A-a good plan t-to go to t-the Waffle Hut after the game." Ben looked down, sighed and shook his head while Lonnie stood there with her arms crossed raising an eyebrow.

"Do I need to remind you of last time I help you guys?"

"Good point." Jay conceded "I can't tell you why or where yet but we got to get our friends out of a really sticky situation and we're running out of time."

"How are you going to help your friends and play the game? The recess is about to be over as we speak." Ben and Jay were so grateful Lonnie hadn't asked anymore questions about their 'situation'. 

"I don't know!" Jay exclaimed "But I have to go help my friends." Lonnie could tell that they were really desperate, which made her only want to help more.

"I'll play for you." She said 

"HUH?" went both of the guys. 

Lonnie gestured to the helmet still in Jay's hand. "I'll put on your helmet and play as you." she concluded "I'm already wearing the tourney outfit for school spirit, the crowd's far away enough, I can use your shield to cover most of my body along with the balls, all the players are wearing helmets and it's nighttime." To be honest the plan made a lot of sense, at least at the moment, and it wasn't like they were coming up with any other ideas.

Jay nodded and handed Lonnie his helmet. "My shield is on the right side of the bench. There's a big 'J' on the bottom middle of the back side." Lonnie nodded and turned to leave.

"Lonnie wait!" Jay called out. Lonnie turned around.

"Thank you so much for doing this." Jay said. Ben added in "Yeah we really owe you for this." Lonnie smiled at them. "Don't worry about that. Just don't be afraid to let me know what going on sometimes."

"You got it!" The boys said simultaneously. Lonnie put on the helmet and ran towards the field. The boys turned around and ran towards the museum.

Forget whoever won the game tonight. Lonnie was the real MVP.

* * *

 

There were two security carts outside the museum. Jay and Ben watched from behind a nearby tree. Luckily, the alarms had stopped blaring.

"How are we gonna get them out of there?" Ben asked.

"Simple, you are going to distract the guards by claiming to have seen suspicious characters. Characters who you will give descriptions as long as possible. Got it?" Ben nodded. 

"Good. Now go!" Jay pushed him away from the tree and Ben started to walk towards the carts. Jay watched as Ben pointed off into the opposite direction he was and took his chance while the security guards heads were turned.

Ben had told him the the doors were locked so Jay decided to climb in through a first floor window. _"Locked doors but open windows? Man, Auradon security sucks."_ Jay thought. Inside he scanned for his friends. It didn't take long to find the, especially with Mal trying (and failing) to cover the glowing green multiple-foot scepter with her jacket. Jay crept his way on the floors to Carlos, who claims that he totally wasn't startled and didn't let out a minor scream.

Carlos' eyes were saucers. "Jay? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be out there playing tourney?"

"Don't worry about that, I've got it covered. Unlike this plan, which is a total mess!" Jay answered. Carlos and Jay began to argue about where the plan went wrong until Evie interrupted them.

"Would you two shut up and think! We gotta get out of here!"

"How?" Carlos asked "There are three security guards roaming and we can move around so many times until we get caught!"

Jay agreed. "Especially, with that stick of doom glowing like there's no tomorrow. Which might be true for us if we get caught." Evie pressed her head against the desk she was leaning on. How were they going to get out this?

"Psst. Guys!" Mal whispered. She was still diagonally across the room until she scurried across the floor and sat next to Evie. "I saw Evie's magic mirror upstairs. If one of us can get it, Evie can use it to track the guards steps and we can go the opposite way."

"I'll do it." volunteered Jay "No offense to you guys, but I have a little more experience in theft don't you think?"

"Isn't that what you said about the fabric this morning?" Carlos mindlessly asked. Jay sent Carlos a look and nodded his head toward Evie. "Wait, what fabric?" Evie asked.

"Nothing!" The two boys exclaimed. Mal rolled her eyes. "The mirrors on the third display case on the left, next to Rapunzel's hairbrush." She told Jay. He looked up from his spot to check if the coast was clear. Before he got up Evie stopped him. "Since Carlos can't turn off security and the force field is up, you'll have to be extra careful." She gave him a small mirror she kept it her other pocket. "Use this to switch the mirrors." Jay nodded and quickly scaled the stairs to the second floor. He was gone a total of fifteen seconds before he came back down and sat next to Carlos.

"Told you guys I had skills." Evie took her mirror from Jay and began to chant. "Mirror mirror in my hand, show me where the guards footsteps land." The mirror revealed the guards to be on the upper south side of museum. Jay revealed that he came in from a window on the north side and they were currently sitting in the west side.

The rotten four got up and tip toed to the north window. Mal got out first since she had the staff, then Evie, then Carlos. Jay was last and all was good until Jay accidentally kicked a flag while climbing out and it hit the floor with a loud thud.

Evie's mirror revealed that the guards were coming their way fast. So the VK's had to move even faster. They ran around the front and stopped to look for Ben. "Where is he?" Mal asked. "No clue, but guys we'll never outrun them with everything we're carrying and on foot." Carlos pointed out.

"The golf carts!" Jay exclaimed. "We can use them to drive away!" 

"We just stole three magical objects, you wanna steal something else?" Carlos asked dumbfounded.

"Exactly! We just stole three powerful objects. You think anyone's gonna give a dusty fuck about a golf cart?" Jay asked. 

"How would we even start the carts?" Carlos asked. Evie pulled a bobby pin out of her hair. "With this!" 

"Great plan and all but I'm not leaving without Ben!" Mal exclaimed. 

"No need, LOOK!" Jay pointed to three running figures in the distance. It was two guards and Ben. Jay ushered all of them into a cart and had them crouch down. "Does anyone know how to drive a golf cart?" Mal rolled her eyes and gave the scepter to Carlos to hold since he was next to her. When he almost dropped it, she took it and gave it to Evie in front of her to hold. Her and Jay switched places so Mal could be in the drivers seat. She waved a hand in the air to get Ben's attention. It took a few tries but he finally saw it and ran over to their spot. 

"Are you guys okay? Did you get everything?" Ben asked frazzled. Mal nodded numbly, She gestured for him to get in the cart but he said he had one last thing to do and ran back into the building. 

Ben watched as the security guards ran around like chicken with their heads cut off. He really hoped what he had in mind would work.

* * *

 

"GENTLEMEN" All the guards stopped. "I would like to tell you that this entire night has been a simulator of sorts." The guards looked at him in confusion. "See, I want Auradon to be at the top of it's game with everything, especially the security. I privately had certain people trick some of the alarms to see how you'd react and you all acted accordingly." _Accordingly like buffoons. I really gotta fix the security after the transfers. Maybe before then._ " I wish you all a good night and I didn't cause you too much stress." Ben ended his lie with a smile that convinced the guards around him that this was all a practice. Ben turned around as confident as he could to keep up the act and left. Outside he went to the cart and announced it was all taken care of. Everyone let out breaths of relief.

"Mal, you know how to ride a golf cart?" Ben asked.

"Not really, my knowledge is mostly walking and magical vespas." 

"You want me to take over?"

"No, no I got this." Ben nodded and got into the backseat with the boys. They made it approximately three meters until Mal almost crashed into a tree and handed the wheel over to Ben.

* * *

 

The gang was back in Jay and Carlos's room with the lights off to make it seem like no one was there. 

"Okay. We got the staff, orb and book, now what?" Jay asked. 

"I hold the scepter, while holding Ursula's Orb, while reading the spell." Mal answered.

"I still don't entirely get how this works or why we needed your mom's scepter." Carlos said. Mal filled in the blanks for him. "I wouldn't need the scepter if I was just looking in Auradon but since I'm looking in Auradon, the Isle and everything in-between I'll need a lot more power, which I don't have, which is where the scepter comes in. Like my mother, I will siphon power from it to make the spell stronger. As for the spell I just need to hold Ursula's orb while focusing on Uma's face and energy and the orb will point in the direction she's in somehow."

"Well let's get this show on the road." Evie called out from Jay's bed as she got up. They all formed a circle. Mal opened her book and read the spell a few times. Then she picked up Ursula's orbin one hand and the scepter in the other. Her eyes glowed green as she chanted.  

"With this small item in my hand, show me the daughter of the owner, Uma throughout the entire land." The gem in the staff glowed to a green so bright it almost blinded them and then...nothing. The light faded and nothing else happened. 

"Was that supposed to happen?" Carlos asked.

"I don't think so." Mal said.

"Maybe the scepter is out of juice." Jay offered.

"How can a scepter be out of juice?" Ben asked.

"I don't know, I'm not a scepter expert! That's my dad not me." Jay exclaimed. Mal walked around the room with the orb in her hand. "I think I did it wrong, maybe we're supposed to be outside?"

It didn't take long for everyone to start arguing about what went wrong and how to fix it. It wasn't until Evie noticed something that they all quiet down.

"Look the orb" Evie pointed out. It was still in Mal's hand but it was pointed the window. Mal caught on and slowly went towards the window. The closer she got the more the orb faintly glowed.

The spell had worked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jesus, this may be the longest I've ever written. Kind of my favorite chapter...yet. Thanks for reading! 
> 
> I like to think that the VK's will have trouble and mischief wherever they go which is bad for them but fun to write.


	4. Return To The Isle of The Lost Part I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Per usual, the plan doesn't go the way they wanted it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am just whipping out these suckers!

The gang had slept restlessly. 

The next day, Saturday, they all got up bright and early to return the scepter, book, and mirror. All of Auradon was still asleep. Obviously, they kept the orb because they needed it to find Uma. It was easy to return all the items because per usual, the guards were doing anything but guarding.

They were all at the lake where the bridge connected with the limo. 

"Are you sure we don't have anything...less flashy?" Mal asked Ben.

"Nothing for all of us. Plus, the limo worked out last time." He reassured. Mal answered back with a reluctant nod. Jay, Carlos and Evie came out of the limo. 

"Okay, limo's stacked and got the clicker right here, we're ready to go." Jay announced. Everybody started heading into the limo until Ben told them to stop. They stared at him with blank faces.

"I just wanted to say thank you to all of you for helping out with this crazy scheme." Ben said sincerely. 

"Oh, bro, don't go all mushy on us." Jay said.

"Yeah man, it's no big deal." Carlos added in.

"This is literally my job so I'm happy to help." joined Evie

Mal agreed, "Always." Jay clapped his hands together. "Okay let's get this show on the road!" 

"What road? We're literally driving on water." Carlos said.

"But we don't hit the water so aren't we driving on air?" Evie asked.

"Technically we're driving on magic and even more technically aren't we floating?" Mal pitched in. Jay lost his patience. "Who cares? Let's go before we get caught." They all piled into the limo, Jay in the front, driving.

"Speaking of getting caught, Ben what did you tell Fairy Godmother we were doing this weekend?" Carlos asked.

"That in celebration of our Tourney team winning, we were going a cruise ship." He answered. Mal snorted "Ironically enough, the only ship we'll likely be on is a pirate ship." Everyone snickered but what Ben said about Tourney reminded Jay about something...or someone.

"Hey guys, sorry to do this but I gotta go talk to someone real quick." Jay said. Evie, Carlos and Mal all said "What?"  

"So help me if you wanna go flirt with someone I will smack you." Mal said. 

"I'll join" agreed Evie. Carlos spoke up "Seriously man, can't this wait till we get back." Jay shook his head. Surprisingly when Ben spoke up, no one expected him to say what he said. "I think I know who you're talking about. Go get her if you can." Jay gave him a quick 'Thanks dude' before leaving the limo and running off. Mal, Carlos, Evie gave him a look that screamed 'Explain' and Ben sighed. "It all started during the Tourney game last night..."

* * *

 

Jay wandered through the hallways looking for Jane and Lonnie's dorm room. It's not like he's ever been before but he did remember Carlos saying something about it being a few door down from Mal and Evie's room. _"Wonder what he was doing in her room..."_ Ew. No. Bad thoughts. Bad thoughts.After peering in door after door, Jay finally found Lonnie's room. Both her and Jane were sleeping...and so was Dude on Jane's bed. _"Oh yeah, Carlos asked Jane to watch Dude while he was gone."_ Jay quietly tip-toed over to Lonnie's bed and tapped her shoulder. Lonnie's eyes popped open and Jay pressed a finger to his lips to tell her to stay quiet before she yelled. Jay motioned for her to follow him outside.

They were safely in the hallway when Lonnie asked what was going on. "Remember when you said you wanted us to tell you more stuff from now on?" Lonnie nodded. "Well me and the rest of our friends are heading down to the Isle right now and before you freak out and start asking a million question I will tell you on the way to the limo. Are you in?" It didn't even take Lonnie a second before nodding. "Just let me get dressed."

* * *

 

Ben spotted Lonnie and Jay running towards the vehicle from a distance. When they got to the limo he asked if everything was all good. 

"Yep." Lonnie replied excitedly "Thank you so much for letting me come along." 

"No thanks needed Lonnie. You were such a great help last time and with the Tourney thing. I can't imagine you not helping now." Ben replied. "Are you gonna sit in the back with the rest of us or in the front with Jay like last time?" 

"I think I'll keep Jay company up front." Ben nodded as Lonnie walked away. "All right." Jay said from the front. "Let's get this show on the road."  

"What road?" Lonnie asked 

Evie groaned, "Please tell me we're not doing this again."

* * *

 

This was only Ben's second time on the time the island and he swears it got worse. He wasn't sure what it was but one thing that sent chills down his spine was that they had left around 6:30 in the morning and here it looked like nighttime was falling, not rising.

There was always an eerie feel to this place. Like you were always being watched and for all he knew he was what with him being the king and his current company. Everyone snuck through the shadows all the way to Curl Up & Dye, where Dizzy used to 'work'. (As if she had a choice.) 

They were all in Dizzy's old workplace when Evie mentioned having to vilify Ben and Lonnie. 

"Those looks might work in Auradon but here you have to be chillin like a villain and preppy clothes and a sports outfit isn't gonna cut it." Ben raised his hands up in defense. "Believe me when I say I learned my lesson from last time. Do whatever you need to." Evie took Lonnie's hand and led her toward the back of the store.

Carlos was spinning on a hairdressing seat as he spoke. "So, where do we go from here?" Mal whipped out Ursula's Orb from her backpack. It was still glowing. A little brighter now that they were on the Isle but not as bright as if she were close. "We follow this sucker and hope we don't get captured." Everyone looked at Ben. "What? Harry Hook is surprisingly fast and nimble despite him using a hook as a hand." Ben defended himself.

"Yeah but still. As much as I would love to rub it in to Harry and his Wharf Rats again, I'd like to avoid brawls and swords fights this time around." Jay said. Everyone agreed. Evie came out with Lonnie in tow who was wearing a blue leather jacket and pink leather jeans with black boots. All stylized by Evie of course. Lonnie's outfit earned a wolf whistle from Mal and applauds from the boys.

"I know. I know. I'm good at what I do." Evie said with a hair flip. Lonnie looked at her outfit in awe. "Evie this is amazing."

"Thank you. You really know how to rock it. Ben, the clothes from last time are in the back. I put them in the limo earlier. Go change." Evie gestured behind her and Ben followed her directions.

"You guys really think this plan is going to work?" Lonnie asked

"It has to." Mal answered. "We're out of options."

"But let's be honest." Carlos pitched in "Something going to go horribly wrong, leaving us in a very difficult position...again." The gang laughed at the truth from that. Even Ben was chuckling as he came out, dressed to (not) impress. He was acting like a fake villain of course.

"Well, I guess it's time to finally do this. Mal, pl--" Ben cut himself off "Lead the way."

* * *

 

The rotten four plus other spent hours following the necklace. There were certain places where it would light up or then almost completely dim. It had them running in zig-zags and circles all over the Isle. They tried the Chip Shop and the docks. Ironically enough, those were where the orb was the most dim. Where the hell was Uma?

It was a lot more unnerving snooping through the Isle than everyone thought. Having to not draw any attention to themselves, lest Uma found out they were here before they found her or worse...their parents. Even Maleficent who was still a lizard and in a empty fishbowl under Mal's bed. (According to Mal)

It was mid afternoon when Jay said that they should at least take a break. "Come on guys. We've practically been around the entire Isle. You really think going in circles is going to help us find Uma?" 

"He's got a point." Carlos said. 

"And my feet really hurt from walking in this heels." Evie pointed to her shoes.

"I'm good with whatever." Lonnie said. Ben looked to Mal, who nodded.

"I understand guys. I'm a little tired myself. Let's take a break for a little while and try again later. We do have the entire weekend after all." Mal shoved the orb back into her backpack. 

"Since we're taking a break and in the Isle. Can we go get my mom so we can bring her back to Auradon when we leave?" Mal asked. Everyone quickly agreed. It was way to dangerous for Maleficent to be by herself in the Isle, even in reptilian form. Mal led the way back to the old warehouse.

Everyone waited outside while Mal got her mother, trying to look as natural as possible.

"I really wish Mal would hurry up. I don't like staying in one place on the Isle for too long." Carlos said.

"Don't worry. Maleficent is probably being difficult in her own lizardy way." Ben tried to reassure Carlos but he wasn't quite convinced himself. He was kidnapped here after all. 

"I'm gonna go see what's taking her so long." Evie said before she threw the rock at the sign and went inside. The clicks of her heels could be heard as she walked. The rest of them stood there awkwardly.

"So...on a scale of one to ten on how this plan is going...I'd give it a solid five. Jay said, trying to break the silence. Luckily, he didn't have to anymore since Evie had come downstairs and outside.

"Good news, Mal is on her way down with her mom. We can leave now." Everyone let out sighs of relief. But it was too early for that because right after Evie said that, a voice called out from the shadows. 

"Leave? But you lot just got here." Ben knew that voice. He was stuck with it for hours before everyone helped rescue him. Evie froze in her spot while Lonnie reached for her sword. Jay was cursing the voice.

"Goddammit, not you again." 

"And here's the thing that goes horribly wrong." Carlos pointed out worriedly.

"I really think you should stay a bit longer." The accented voice called out. From the shadows, came a person wearing black eyes and a smirk equally well.

It was no other than Harry Hook.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, I got him in the chapter. Fun fact: did you know that this entire story was inspired by a quote I saw on tumblr that wasn't even written by or for Descendants? Welp....now you do.
> 
> Also, I felt that it was really...unnerving to have Maleficent...by herself...in lizard form...on the Isle of the Lost. Because that can't be a good thing.


	5. Return To The Isle of The Lost Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Every pirate knows the story of Davy Jones and his locker...unfortunately the VK's plus Ben and Lonnie would prefer that than to face Harry Hook.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aw, that's so sweet if your reading the notes but for today, I suggest just skipping to the story.

Ben scoffed under his breath and shook his head. Under the right circumstances, seeing Harry Hook would've been somewhat of a blessing. They were looking for Uma and who better to know where she was than her first mate Harry Hook himself? Except, in this moment, the gang was illegally on the island while waiting for Mal to come down with Maleficent of all people. (Technically of all creatures...being a lizard and all) Also, they were meant to meet up with Uma's crew on their terms and judging off the smirk on Harry's face, they definitely had the odds against them. 

"Well,well well." Harry started as he stalked up to them. Did he really have to start of with 'well, well, well,' though? _"What a cliche"_ Ben thought.

"Have ye lot missed us so much from the last time?" Harry mocked. The five of them (minus Mal, where was she anyways?) stood there frozen, glaring at Harry as he walked up very close to Ben. "We had such fun last time, right Beastie Boy?" Jay interrupted Harry's mocking.

"Which time? When we kicked your 'pirate crews' ass or defeated the shrimp you call Captain?" Jay knew what buttons to push. While he didn't know the exact story behind the nickname 'Shrimpy' he did know that Uma hated it. And whatever Uma hated enraged Harry. Sure enough Harry abandoned Ben to confront Jay.

"I'd be careful about who ye call what here mate." Harry pushed Jay's left shoulder with his hook. "Yer not exactly top of the food chain here anymore." Jay continued to push his luck. "Well if Uma is at the top, why haven't we seen her? Or is she hiding like a...shirmpy." Jay smirked as Harry visibly lost his temper and a wild look possessed his eyes. He raised his hook to slash down on Jay's face only for it to be stopped by Lonnie's sword.

 "Stop." Lonnie said "We don't want any trouble." Harry let out a dark laugh and removed his hook from her sword "Don't want any trouble? Have you noticed where ye are darling?" Ben finally snapped out of his frozen stature and walked up to Harry.

"Listen to us, we want to make a preposition with Uma that could benefit everyone." Ben tried to explain. Harry kept on laughing "Preposition? What a big fancy word from a big fancy kid like yerself. Why would we want to make a deal with ye lot again after it went so well last time?" Harry asked sarcastically.

"Last time I checked Ben said preposition with Uma not present company involved." Surprisingly it was Carlos who said that. He never was one for confrontations. Harry really knew how to bring anger out in people. Regardless, time was running out, they should really watch their mouth. The gang didn't have forever on the Isle and Harry might be their biggest and only lead to Uma. Ben stepped up in front of Carlos, closer to Harry.

"Yes. A proposition for Uma that extends to you and your crew. A preposition that can get you off this island." Ben said vaguely. Harry scoffed in his face. "Have you learned nothing from last time little king? Uma practically spelled it out for you. We don't do handouts." 

"And I'm not giving them." Ben explained "I wanna make a deal with Uma and if your half as loyal as people say you are you'd want her to hear it as soon as possible." Harry stepped closer to Ben, staring him straight in the eye as an act of intimidation. It was working, but Ben wouldn't back down, not just yet.

" 'N why should I believe you?" Harry asked. "Why shouldn't you believe me? I'm an Auradon kid after all. Bound to good. I can't lie." Ben reasoned. He used the stereotypes the Isle kids used against him and Harry could sense that. It even earned Ben the tiniest of smirks.

"Meet me in th' alley near Chip Shoppe at four...be late 'n I'll be gone." With a dramatic twist of his coat. Harry Hook slunk back into the darkness, whistling as he went. Ben could've sworn that the tune sounded familiar. The four of them let out breaths they didn't know they held.

"That could've gone way differently, way worse." Evie said at the top of the stairs.

"Agreed." Carlos commented "Jay, I'm surprised you kept your mouth shut that long." Even Lonnie nodded her head at that.

"Same here but Ben was on a roll. Even I knew that saying something might screw us over." Jay said. Lonnie clapped Ben over the shoulder. "Props to you Ben." He shrugged off the compliment. "It was nothing. Been taught to handle negotiations since I was born. Trick is to tell them what they want to hear and not what you want."

"Wise words Benny Boo." Mal's voice from the intercom surprised them. "Mal? Did you catch any of that?" Jay asked. 

"Only all of it." Mal answered. "I wanted to come down and help but my mom was being difficult. She kept trying to bite my fingers. Though that might be because I left or with hardly any food...or no food. My bad...I'm coming down now." Mal's voice shut off from the intercom and footsteps could be heard. Evie moved out of the way so that Mal could get down the stairs.

"So are we really going?" Mal asked once she got downstairs, mother in tow in her little box with air holes.

"I don't really see much of a choice here." Lonnie said. "Would certainly be faster than the orb that's gotten us no where while we've been here." The five of them reluctantly agreed.

"Looks like we're not done with Harry Hook yet." Carlos said before taking out his phone. "Guys, it's only 12:30. what are we gonna do for the next three and a half hours?"

"We can start off by putting my mom back in the limo."

* * *

For the next few hours the gang stayed at the VK's old hideout. It was one of the few (more like the only) safe places they could stay on the Isle. Carlos tinkered with some old trinkets that had been long forgotten. Lonnie and Jay sparred with their swords. Jumping around in circles side stepping and trying to out maneuver each other. Evie was looking over her old designs and recreating small pieces. and Mal was showing Ben some basics of spray paint art on a blank space of wall.

"Okay, so any paper really could be used on wet paint to create types of ripple affects. My favorite to use is newspaper." Mal help up a piece of paper and rubbed it across the wet pain on the wall. Surely enough the colors began to blend and even out in the dragon's heart design. "See? Easy." Ben laughed.

"For you maybe. Not all of us inherited the artist gene." 

"Nah, it's just because I'm naturally awesome." Mal smirked.

"I can't argue that." The two of them continued to playfully flirt. The six of them were actually content with where they were. Isle or not, it was fun to hang out with everybody. The moment was ruined though by Carlos phone alarm going off. He set it so they wouldn't be late with meeting Harry.

"Guys, it's fifteen to four. We should get going."

"Where is this Chip Shoppe anyways?" Lonnie asked. Mal answered her question.

"Near Goblin Wharf at the docks and it's not exactly a short walk so Carlos was right when he said we should leave now."

They all agreed and began to pack up and leave. The moment of peace was nice while it lasted.

* * *

The gang followed Mal, who had been the one to be here recently, to Ursula's Fish and Chip Shoppe. Since Harry didn't specify which alley to meet at, and there were a lot, it took them approximately six tries to find the right one. The current alley they were in had to be the right one because of the overwhelming odor of fish guts and garbage. They entered the alley to see Harry leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, hook covered by his sleeve. He slowly leaned his head to the side and examined the gang. He moved as if he had all the time in the world. Ben, the VK's and Lonnie however, did not.

"Can we get this show on the road already?" Jay asked. Harry leaned up from the wall and faced them.

"I'll be honest, I didn' reckon I'd see ye lot. Dunno if that's brave o' desperate, but I'd bet on the second one." Jay took personal offense to that.

"Us desperate? Didn't you and your crew kidnap a king for a wand?" 

"Didn' ye kings' father imprison us in th' first place?" Harry snapped. That shut Jay up. That fact was pretty hard, if not impossible, to counter argue. Ben walked toward Harry to try to diffuse the situation.

"We didn't come to start any more trouble." Ben pleaded. Harry rolled his eyes.

"Ye Auradon sprogs must 'ave a different definition of trouble in Boreadon. Luckily fer ye, Uma had agreed to meet." There's that pirate jargon. Both confusing and charming in it's own special way.

"Then lead us to her." Mal interrupted. Harry roughly passed through them and head towards the docks. The six of them figured he'd stop or turn but he just kept going. Not slowing down or hesitating until he finally walked off the docks and into the water.

It caught the six of them by surprise so much that they ran towards the part of the docks where Harry jumped. Interestingly enough, instead of hearing a splash of water, they each heard wood. Hard wood, as if something or someone heavy fell on the floor. Their suspicions were confirmed when they looked over the docks and saw Harry standing in a small wooden dinghy.

"Ye lot gonna keep starin' at me like wee guppies or are ye gonna get in?" The six of them shared hesitant looks. It didn't go unnoticed by Harry.

"Yer right fer yer hesitation. I be nah a fan of yers, tis is a small boat  'n thar's a lot of us. Where Uma is ain't exactly close so lets get this o'er wit'. But if any of ye fall o'er board, that's yer problem nah mine." That earned him a glare from the other teens. Slowly but surely each one of them stepped onto the boat and squeezed next to each other to fit. Harry smirked at their discomfort. "Sorry if 'tis nah as comfortable as yer yachts yer majesties." Harry said sarcastically.

"Didn't know you knew what a yacht was. Would you shut up and row already?" Jay asked, already irritated since his his legs were wet and his left ribs were pressed against the side of the boat.

"Get comfortable, 'tis gonna be a long ride."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S. SHORT. I'm gonna have to deal with that. But...their on their way to see Uma...this should be interesting to say the least. Will definitely be fun to write.


	6. Return To The Isle of The Lost Part III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's make a deal, shall we?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates, updates, updates. I hope you enjoy it. Final part (on the Isle at least)...I promise.

It wasn't a fun journey.

It was cold, windy and cramped. The sea smelled like garbage and moved like slime. The average dinghy was six to twenty feet long. The boat they all were all on was significantly smaller. It was a wonder that Harry could row at all. Still, he didn't make it easy on them, using every opportunity to 'accidentally' hit Jay with a paddle or splash them all with water. The person who must've have been having the worst time was Evie though. She clutched her stomach as the boat swayed back and forth. She look greener than Mal's eyes when they glowed, and that was saying something. If Ben had to guess, they spent about forty-five minutes to an hour on that boat. He couldn't really tell though, due to his arms being smushed against Lonnie and Mal and there being practically no power on the sea. They all let out appreciative groans when Harry announced that they'd be landing soon.

"Ye reckon this trip be bad, try doin' th' exact same thin' but racin' in a blasted bathtub." Harry muttered. As Harry kept rowing Ben caught Mal looking around the boat. "Lose something?" He asked.

"Remember when we were here last time and I lost my glove? I just wanted to see if I could find it in the meantime. No luck though." 

"I could always get you a new glove." Ben offered. Mal waved him off with what little space she had. "It's fine, I kind of like the whole, one glove thing, gives me more edge." Ben laughed. "I don't think you need anymore help with that." Their conversation was brought to an abrupt stop by Harry saying they were here. But "here" was smack in the middle of the water nowhere near any islands, docks or coves.

"Alright, here's where we get off." Harry said, putting the oars down. Jay looked flabbergasted along with Carlos, Evie, Ben, Mal and Lonnie.

"The hell you mean we're here? I know you not the brightest Mr. Can't Count, but this is ridiculous, we're right in the middle of the ocean." Jay shouted condescendingly. Harry glared at Jay but let out a chuckle when Lonnie smacked him on the arm. Wouldn't help to continuously piss off their only guide who could very well just leave them stranded.

"Technically, this is not an ocean. Second, the place where we be goin' can nah exactly be gotten to by boat. We'll needs to swim the rest of the way...or ye could stay here, see if I care." Harry explained, still glaring at Jay. It was painfully obvious that Harry was dumbing down his pirate jargon for the rest of them but they paid it no mind. It wasn't important right now. 

Harry was first in the water, followed by Ben, then Lonnie, Jay, Carlos, Mal and finally Evie, who was still focused on holding her stomach. Floating in the water Lonnie asked about the dinghy. Harry waved her off.

"Leave it, th' goblins will take care o' it. Now ye all better hold yer breath 'cause if one o' ye drowns, I be not revivin' anybody." With that Harry ducked his head under water and the rest followed suit. 

* * *

 

Underwater, it was dark and murky. Water weeds and algae biting at their legs, threatening to pull someone under. The six of them wondered just how Harry knew where he was going. Ironically enough, being under water helped Evie overcome her sea sickness. 

Carlos was starting to worry. The average human could only hold their breath was forty-five to sixty seconds and even that was pushing it. Granted, most of them weren't completely human but sooner rather than later, the urge to breathe would become to great and someone would need air. It wasn't like they were close to the surface too, Harry was leading them lower and lower, closer and closer to the bottom of the sea. Carlos had half a mind to think he was leading them to Davy Jones' locker, to an early watery grave until he saw it. Just ahead of them, where the slightest bit of light shone through showed a sea cave with a big opening. That must be where Harry was leading them. To a part of the island where the only access was through was underwater. It also served as an excellent hiding place seeing as it wouldn't be something someone just stumbled upon by accident. The entrance was even covered by weeds.  _"Props to you Uma."_ Carlos thought as he swam harder to get to the entrance.

Harry swam first through the entrance followed by the rest of them. When they hit the surface, they all took in big gulps of air, grateful for the oxygen. After they collected themselves, they looked around the cave. It was surrounded by rock and had one opening that must've led to outside. There were steps out of the pool they were in that led to a black sandy ground. The only light were torches on the cave walls. Harry, who had already climbed out of the water and was picking up a torch, called out for their attention.

"Come on, I don't 'ave all day t' be stuck wit' th' likes o' ye scallywags." He spat, all pretenses of politeness stripped away, not that it was ever there. He had even stopped trying to censer himself. The six of them grumbled as they climbed out of the water and continued to follow Harry.

* * *

Turns out, outside was a jungle. A big, wet, dark, muddy jungle. Evie rolled her eyes in disgust.  _"Seriously Uma, a jungle? I get the sea cave thing, it's kind of in your blood, but a jungle? A jungle? An abandoned building couldn't suffice? At least there I'd have somewhere to plug in a hair dryer to get dry."_ Evie examined her outfit that was caked in mud and sea water.  _"So help me if this girl doesn't agree to a deal after all this trouble, I'll show her she's not the only witch in town...or in the jungle."_

The seven of them, including Harry, walked throughout the jungle, uncomfortably wet. Their shoes sloshed every stepped filled with water and mud. All of the phones were soaked so there was no way to tell time but it was definitely close to dark. The only sounds that could be heard were the sloshing of their shoes, grumbling and slapping plants out of the way until Mal broke the silence.

"As much fun as it is to play 'follow the leader' how much farther is it to where Uma is?" Harry scoffed, not bothering to turn around to face Mal. "Wha' be it dragon poppet? Are ye nah enjoyin' yer moonlit walk? Sorry if it doesn't compare t' Boreadon."

"What moon hook boy? It close to dark and the only light source we have is that torch which miraculously hasn't set this entire jungle on fire yet." Mal snapped. Harry ignored her and kept walking. Mal was about to reply again until Ben grabbed her hand and cut her off. He looked her straight in the eyes and gave her a small smile. It helped her relax just a little bit. The only way they we're getting through this was with patience. A whole lot of patience. So Mal squeezed Ben's hand and resolved to walk in silence the rest of the way.

* * *

Eventually, they saw a faint glow beyond the trees. Harry led them to a clearing in the woods where Uma had set up camp with the rest of her crew.  There were torches that stuck out of the ground and and campfire dead center of the clearing with logs to sit on around it. A large buffet table made of wood was towards the trees covered in food where other pirates happily ate. The six teens stomachs grumbled. They'd only eaten things in the limo and nothing else all day. They were starving. There were tents everywhere. The biggest shelter around was a teepee towards the back surrounded by other tents.  _"That's gotta belong to Uma."_ Ben thought. Harry's presence got the crew's attention especially Gil who had been stuffing eggs in his mouth. He perked up when he saw Harry and the others. Gil walked toward Harry and said hi with his mouth full and egg pieces flew out if his mouth. Harry looked at him slightly grossed out but not at all surprised.

"Gil, ye know wha' t' do." Gil nodded excitedly and began to walk away toward the only teepee. "And Gil..." Harry called out. Gil whipped around, more egg pieces flying out of his mouth. 

"...Swallow." Gil nodded in remembrance as if this was a common thing he forgot. Harry shook his head. That boy sometimes...Nevertheless, Gil swallowed his food and headed towards the teepee once again.

"HEY UMA, THEY'RE HERE!" Gil shouted. All around the camp pirates glared at the Auradorians and traitors while the VK's happily glared back. Ben and Lonnie just kept blank faces glancing at each other. 

Harry gave his torch to some random pirate and motioned towards the tent. "Come on now, aft ye." The six teen hesitantly walked towards and into the teepee.

* * *

No one was quite sure what to make of the inside of the teepee.

On the left and in the back was a table with multiple lit lanterns. On the right side was a cot with an old pillow and an old dark green blanket where Uma undoubtedly slept. There was a large faded decorative rug in the middle covering the grass floor. On top of the rug was a small table where Uma sat on the opposite end in a decorative chair. Not as elaborate as a throne but eye catching enough to tell who's in charge. It was obvious that Uma and her crew never meant to stay long but wanted to be as comfortable as possible while they did.

"If it isn't beastie boy and his group of... _heroes_. What brings you to this side of the Isle? Or to the Isle at all?" Uma asked rhetorically. Jay snorted. "Heard the garbage on the Isle was particularly toxic today. We just couldn't miss it." Jay spat. Ben started to step forward towards Uma but stopped in his tracks to see Harry and Gil move behind Uma. Ben let out a deep sigh.

"You know why we're here or you wouldn't have had Harry guide us all the way here to your camp." Ben reasoned. Uma gave an appreciative nod. "Maybe I just wanted to see the end results of all that sea water and mud."

"Perhaps but your still the slightest bit interested in hearing what I had to say. Deals are kind of your specialty." Ben replied.

"One of them." Uma gestured to the smaller chair across for her for Ben to sit. Ben looked back at his friends and they all nodded for him to sit. Since he was the main one making the deal, it only made sense. The five of them were more than happy to stand behind Ben as moral support and possible back-up if need be.

"So what's this deal you want to make Beastie?" Uma asked. Now that the moment was here Ben found himself tongue tied for a minute. Luckily for him, Evie came to his rescue. 

"We're trying to transfer kids out to Auradon but we're having a little trouble." Evie vaguely explained. A little trouble was an understatement. They were flat out failing, minus Dizzy and Freddie Facilier. Uma smirked and let out a short laugh.

"Maybe they know that Auradon's not what it's cracked up to be. That it's just filled with weak, selfish traitors." Ben could feel the rage rolling off the VK's but it was particularly strongest coming off Mal. He didn't have to turn around to know that her eyes were glowing green. He hated that he couldn't comfort or calm her down right now.  _"Just a little bit more patience guys."_ Ben let out another sigh. Today was a very tiring day.

"I will not deny that Auradon has it's faults, but the faults are less severe there than they are on the Isle. I know you want to be a good captain. You want off this island not just for yourself but for your entire crew. Help me help you." Ben offered. Uma sat there silently for a minute before laughing in his face.

"Help me help you? Really Beastie Boy? That's the best you got? Just like an Auradon kid to think they know what's best for us." Ben took in a deep breath. Trying to keep it together. _"Patience, patience. Tell them what they wanna hear and not what you need."_

"I don't know what's best for the islanders, that's why we need your help. I thought we reached an understanding at the cotillion." Ben slightly snapped. It really had been a long day and Uma's little jabs weren't helping.

"An understanding? Please I gave you back your ring and swam off. Not like it was of any real use to me. I already used it to hurt Mal with your help of course." Ben let out a small growl that he hoped no one, especially Mal or Uma, heard. He really hated of being reminded of when he was forced to hurt the people he cared about, the people he loved. Said person even put her hand on his shoulder to calm him down. Ben sent Mal a silent thanks.

"Awe...how cute. The happy couple is comforting each other." Uma mocked and cooed. Ben was done playing Mr. Nice Guy. It was time to take charge and get to the point of this entire journey.

"Look, you and I both know that we don't have the influence like you on the Isle. If you can convince Isle kids to give Auradon a shot I will personally see to it _myself_ that you and your entire crew are set free. As an added bonus, you wouldn't even have to stay in Auradon, you and your crew can sail all the oceans you want. Granted, you can't pillage and plunder and steal."

Harry snorted. "Wha's th' point o' bein' a pirate then?" He asked. Ben ignored him.

"What do you say?" Ben could see the slight hesitance on Uma's face. He could work with that. Second rule of negotiations, self doubt never hurts, make your opponent feel they need you to get what they want.

"Unless you don't think you have enough pull here anymore. It does seem like you in hiding. That's a shame, though, I could always find someone else..." Uma interrupted him. "STOP. It's not that and we're _not_ hiding. We're an island of villains. Feared or not, people aren't just gonna take my word for it." Ben was torn. On the bright side, it sounded like Uma was in. On the bad side, she made a very good point. How do you get the paranoid and hateful to believe in you. Apparently, Lonnie, who had been silent most of the time, had the answer.

"Come back with us." Lonnie suggested. It earned her wide eyes and collective 'huh's' from not just Ben and the VK's but Uma, Harry and Gil. "Lonnie what are you talking about?" Carlos asked.

"If the kids aren't gonna take your word for it, give them proof they can work with. If the people who hated the original group who came here still wanted to live in Auradon regardless, that's bound to turn some heads." Lonnie explained. Slowly, each of them caught on to what she was talking about. It was like a different version of the VK's arrival. Not to break the barrier and free all the villains but to show how easy it can be to assimilate. That trading sides of the barrier would be better for them, not worse. Ben looked back and forth from Uma to his friends. Uma seemed like she was considering it as she whispered to Harry and Gil. Mal and Jay looked the most upset about the arraignment both of them glaring or shaking their heads.

"When would we leave?" Uma asked.

"How would get there?" Harry added in. Ben didn't miss a beat. "Day after tomorrow, in the morning. Gives you some time to pack and get your affairs in order. I'm sure the limo has enough space."

"How many of us are going?" Gil asked.

"Just you three."  The three of them looked outraged. Shaking their heads and telling Ben no. He wasn't having it, not when they were so close.

"I don't mean permanently, just for the time being. It's gonna be hard enough convincing Fairy Godmother to not ship you back off to the Isle as soon as she sees you. There's no way she'd let an entire pirates crew on board with out a heads up notice." Ben explained.

"Yer king, can't ye just make it so?" Harry asked. Ben clicked his tongue. "Technically, but it's not that simple right now. Point of the matter is, Uma, if you Harry and Gil live in Auradon for the time being to show that living there is better, I will free your entire crew and give you free reign of the seas as long as you do nothing illegal. Deal?" Ben offered. There were grumbles behind him. Everyone but Lonnie was not one hundred percent with the deal but for now, it was all they had. Surprisingly enough they stayed quiet up until Uma said no deal. 

Mal snapped. "What do you mean you little shri--what do you mean no deal?" Uma rolled her eyes and smirked. "Harry here tells me you have an orb that can find me. Must've belonged to my mother. I want that too and then we have deal." The VK's scoffed. Uma saying that confirmed that Harry had been following them since they got on the Isle, way before that 'met' at Mal's place. It was creepy but unsurprising seeing how it was Harry Hook. What was surprising was Ben agreeing to Uma's terms.

"Dude, what are you doing? You really wanna give Uma more magic?" Jay whispered.

"I agree, I don't trust this at all." Mal said. Ben gave them a desperate stare. "Neither do I but we have no choice. It's now or never." Desperate times calls for desperate measures. Is this how Ariel felt making a deal with Ursula? Ben had to give her props, this was way harder than it seemed. Ben took in a deep breath and held out his hand.

"In exchange for your mothers orb and you and your crew's freedom, you, Gil and Harry will live in Auradon and go to Auradon prep as a means to convince Isle kids to transfer over. Only when we have a large amount of transfer _and only then_ can your entire crew cross the barrier, you can get your mother's orb and sail the seas to your heart's content. Do we have a deal?" 

Uma looked at Ben's hand and smirked. "Beastie boy..." Uma slapped her hand onto his.

"We have a deal."

  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh dear....I wonder who got the short end of the deal?...Hmm...


	7. A (Not So) Warm Welcome

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will the Pirate's Code work or clash with Auradon rules?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am shamelessly endorsing ForeverDelighted. The writer doesn't even know who I am or that I'm doing this but their work is so good that I have to hype them up. Hooks and Poison Apples people...it's good stuff.

Fairy Godmother was going to kill them.

Or turn them into mice, pumpkins, slippers or whatever object came into mind when inevitably looses it when she finds out about what Ben, Lonnie and the VK's did. There were no if buts or doubts about it. King or not, Ben knew he and the others were screwed when they got back to Auradon with three extra passengers. What exactly was he going to say to her? That during the cruise they found the three floating out and about in the water and wanted to give them a lift? Ben wasn't lying to Harry when he said that power relations were more complicated when it came to Fairy Godmother. While yes, he was the king and yes, Fairy Godmother was technically obligated to do what he asked, this was  _Fairy Godmother_. Sweet as she can be she wasn't going to tolerate attitude from a sixteen year old boy. King or not. It didn't help that she had a lot of influence,  _especially_ over his parents. Ben sat in the limo in turmoil, half wishing he didn't have to deal with this anymore. Ben thought about yesterday, and how relaxing it was compared to now.

The VK's, Ben and Lonnie had an extra day to chill out since they were thought to be on a weekend cruise. They all spent their time in the VK's old hideout since it wasn't like they had unrestricted access on the Isle. The day was meant for Uma, Gil, and Harry to pack their things, say goodbyes, or good riddance, and whatever else they needed to do. 

At the warehouse, they all just hung out with each other. Spray paint tutorials, sword practice, modeling and robot building. Ben never knew how much fun he could have without wifi and little electricity. Food was originally a problem but Carlos fished out some old ramen noodles that they split between them and Jay ran out to the limo and grabbed some leftover snacks and water. it would tie them over until they got back to Auradon. It was even fun cramming into the old beds and couches to get some sleep using old blankets or curtains to keep warm. Evie kept saying how it felt like one big sleepover and she was right. In that moment, while everyone fell asleep, Ben was content with everything. That day had felt like a much needed mini vacation away from his kingly duties. The calm before the storm that was the Sea Three, a nickname that Evie spontaneously came up with that oddly worked.

Now, Ben was in the back of the limo, driving to Auradon with Carlos, himself, Evie and Mal packed on one side and the Sea Three on the other. For the past twenty minutes, the four of them watch Uma continuously smack Gil's hand away from the food until she lost interest and just let him eat. Like Carlos when he first got here, he stuffed his face with Reese's Peanut Butter cups. The thought brought a smile to Ben face but the awkwardness in the car killed it. Harry seemed content stroking his hook (that sounded way dirtier than Ben meant) with his fingertips while scowling at the three VK's. Mal, Carlos and Evie glared back for a while but began to ignore him later on.

 _"This silence is killing me."_ Ben thought. Well, it wasn't completely silent, the sound of Gil chewing filled up most of the space. _How long is this ride anyway?_  Ben thought about Jay and Lonnie, who had taken their usual seats as driver and shotgun. At the moment, he couldn't help but think they were onto something when they immediately went to the front.

_"Wonder how they're doing right now."_

* * *

Lonnie watched as Jay gripped the wheel with hardening strength as he sped down the magic road while scowling.

"Drive any faster than we'll crash into the ocean instead of parking at school." Lonnie joked trying to ease the tension in Jay. It didn't work.

"Might be better than driving those whelps over." Jay said.

"What's you problem with them anyway?" Lonnie asked.

"Nothing other than the fact that they're punks and have you forgotten that they kidnapped Ben?" 

"No, that was literally two weeks ago. But them being punks can't be all that there is." Lonnie reasoned.

"It's nothing." Jay stated.

"Okay, let me rephrase. What's your deal with Harry Hook? And don't say nothing, you've got something out for him entirely different than Uma and Gil." Jay let out a big sigh.

"It's something painfully simple but at the same time wickedly complicated to explain." Jay tried to explain.

"That makes no sense at all." Lonnie said.

"I know. That's part of the reason I don't bring it up." 

"Wanna try and simplify it?" Lonnie asked. Jay shook his head.

"Nope, no thanks. It's too annoying and irritating as Hook himself." Jay replied.

"Aren't those synonyms?"

"Yes Lonnie, yes they are."

* * *

After what felt like a lifetime, all of them arrived at Auradon Prep. Ben watched Harry, Uma and Gil's reaction to the new scenery. A little smile grew on his face. He could tell that they were fighting reacting to their new surroundings. Except Gil, who audibly went 'ooh' and 'ah' as he look out the window. He also went 'ow' after Harry reached over and smacked him upside the head to shut him up.

At the opening Fairy Godmother was standing next the beast statue with a smile on her face, no doubt to welcome them all back. Jane was there too, holding Dude who was wiggling in her arms trying to play. Ben's eyebrows furrowed together as a shiver crawled down his back.

 _"Oh no. This is happening way sooner than I wanted it to."_ Ben thought. He had a plan. Of which he would lead the Sea Three to Headmistress's office where he would go in first and calmly explain the new situation and prayed that Fairy Godmother would turn only him into an object temporarily. Instead everything would be out in the open, much sooner rather than later. Mal noticed him freaking out and put her hand over his, offering a small smile. While Ben happily admits that it helped, Mal's soothing effects wore off as they got closer and closer to the school. Harry bluntly broke the silence.

"Could ye two not? Tryin' to hold in my grub sludge." Mal just rolled her eyes while Ben was still focused on Fairy Godmother. This was going to go one of two ways. Bad and even worse than bad. He hoped it was the first option.

Jay stopped driving at the front of the school where Lonnie, Ben and the VK's got out first. Ben told the Sea Three to wait for his signal to come out. He hoped they listened.

"Kids! Welcome back! How was the cruise? And which boat did you guys take? When I passed by there, none seemed to be missing." Fairy Godmother inquired. Meanwhile, Carlos went towards Jane where they shared a hug and Jane handed Dude back to Carlos. Dude licked his face as opposed to him actually saying 'Hello'. Dude speaking was something they never got around to fixing. Luckily, he was being quiet for now.

"Well about that Fairy Godmother, when we left--" Ben never got to finish his sentence because right there and then, Gil tumbled out of the backseat of the limo and landed on the ground with a thud covered in chocolate and what looked like orange soda. Uma and Harry poked their heads out the car and looked at Gil sprawled out on the ground. "Dammit, guys." Uma muttered while hitting Harry on his right arm as he drank from a can.

"Wha'? He ate damn-nigh everythin' in here! I wasn't gonna let him 'ave the last soda too." Harry defended himself. Ben ripped his eyes away from the three to see the headmistress look like she was about to explode into a pumpkin while Jane tried and failed to hold in a laugh. 

"Benjamin! What is the meaning of this?" Fairy Godmother demanded. Ben held his hands up in defense. "I can explain." Gil beat him to it. Still on the floor he turned his head towards Fairy Godmother and said,"Ben came to the Isle of the lost for us."

"No, he came for me. Wanted to make a deal." Uma corrected.

"Invited us to stay here in Boreadon to convince other villain sprogs to transfer over." Harry added, happy to contribute to Ben's suffering.

"Or maybe they can explain." Ben said lamely. Fairy Godmother's face just got redder and redder. Snow White's lips never even got that red. Naturally, at least.

"MY OFFICE NOW!"

* * *

All of them stood in a straight line while Fairy Godmother paced up and down in her office.

"So let me get this straight. After I specifically told you and Evie that the deal couldn't be made you blatantly disobeyed me and took, Mal, Carlos, Jay and Lonnie to the Isle of the lost during the weekend, which you said was a victory cruise, which means you lied. After searching around, Mr. Hook here...

"I actually go by Harry." Harry interjected. 

"SHUSH! He found you and brought you to Uma where you made a deal to bring the three of them to Auradon in exchange of them convincing Isle kids to transfer here and if they do then they've earned their freedom and can roam around and about as much as they pleased?" Fairy Godmother summarized.

"Yep. That's about it." Jay said meekly. While dragging them down to her office, Fairy Godmother had told Jane to leave and to take Dude with her. In her office, six of them told the story of what happened while leaving out the detail of the orb and agreeing to give it to Uma. Some things were better left unsaid. The Sea Three looked down at them and smirked when they noticed the little 'slip' but miraculously stayed quiet.

"I can't believe the nerve of you all!" Fairy Godmother said. The VK's looked down in shame while The Sea Three looked around in boredom and confusion. 

"In our defense _someone_ had to do _something_  and it wasn't like we were rolling around in ideas." Evie defended.

"And besides what's done is done. They're here. And they're most likely staying." Carlos added. Mal and Jay begrudgingly nodded in agreement. Fairy Godmother let out a deep sigh and let the tension release from her shoulders. "Do your parents know where you are?" She asked.

"They don't care." Uma bluntly added. Fairy Godmother's eyes softened. Uma only scoffed.

"Well, I suppose since your staying, you should get some housing arraignments." Ben perked up as he saw Fairy Godmother go to her desk and go through a large book of what he assumed to be unassigned free rooms. He was right.

Fairy Godmother looked up from her book. "Okay. Since you made this deal with Ben and his friends, I'm assuming it would be wise for you to stay with them or at least close by during your time here. Until you three get more comfortable at least. Luckily for us, there are three available rooms that should work for you guys. You each would have a roommate of course."

"Whatever. I want Harry and Gil as my roommates." Uma said. Fairy Godmother let out a nervous laugh. "I'm afraid that's not possible dear. We have certain rules here in Auradon. One of them being no more than two roommates and same gender together."

"Isn't that two rules?" Gil asked. 

"If you think that I'm gonna let the three of us be seperated--" Ben cut off Uma. "You won't be separated." Ben started to walk towards Uma but retreated when Gil and Harry stood in front of her. "You just won't be sleeping in the same rooms at night. You can still see each other whenever you want."

"Before curfew!" Fairy Godmother interjected.

"Yeah. Before curfew." Ben's words managed to calm Uma down, at least for now.

"Goodie, now that that's done, let me tell you who your roommate's will be. Gil you'll be bunking with Doug, Dopey's son. Harry with Chad, Cinderella's son and Uma with Audrey, Aurora's daughter."

Each teen in the room had different yet similar reactions. The Sea Three remained uninterested until they saw Mal and Evie choke on their saliva, Carlos and Jay fighting laughter and Ben and Lonnie with their jaws slightly open and eyebrows raised. Meanwhile, the headmistress went to the office phone to call down Audrey, Chad and Doug.

"What's the deal?" Uma asked, gesturing to the other six. Mal waved her off. "Oh nothing nothing. But uh, something tells me you'll get along with Audrey seeing as you both have a common interest in hating me."

"If she hates you, she must have some sense."

"Wonder if you'll be saying that when she gets here." Mal muttered. Evie looked dejected. "Oh, poor Doug. Though I don't know who's more screwed, Chad or Harry." She mused.

"Probably both." Mal said. It didn't take long for Audrey, Doug and Chad to arrive. 

"Headmistress, you called for us?" Audrey asked. She was in her cheer uniform. She must've been at practice. They all must've been since Chad was in his R.O.A.R uniform and Doug in his marching band outfit. They all looked around the room.

"What's going on?" Audrey asked.

"Your each being assigned roommates. Chad,Harry, Doug, Gil, Audrey, Uma." Audrey's eyes went as big as saucers. "WHAT? I can't bunk with a villain! It's bad enough you let them stay here!" Audrey gestured to Mal, Evie, Carlos and Jay. Mostly Mal though. She didn't have much of a problem with the others.

"Nice to see you too Audrey. Glad to see that spa retreat did wonders for your relaxation." Mal retorted. Audrey gawked at Uma while Uma just glared at her. Gil walked towards Doug who looked at him with curiosity and confusion. Doug wasn't affect by him being 'villain'. Things like that never really fazed him. 

"So your my bunk buddy huh?" Gil asked before grabbing Doug's hand and slamming his chest into his as some type of greeting. The effects left Doug stumbling and wheezing for air while Evie held him. 

The strangest, though entertaining, meeting by far though had to be between Chad and Harry. "So your supposed to be my roommate." Chad stated. "Unfortunately." Harry replied.

"How many pushups can you do in a minute?" Chad questioned.

"Probably more than ye can do in an hour."

"Ye? Who's ye?" Harry looked over to Ben and his friends. "I see ye lot 'ave yer owns Gil."

"No we don't. Chad's significantly more annoying." Carlos said. "Thanks." Chad said until he realized the jab. "HEY!" Carlos shrugged. Chad went back to questioning Harry. It was almost as if he was sizing up the boy.

"Is your hook real?" Chad asked, gesturing to the piece of metal Harry was holding.

"Now why would I tell the likes of ye?" 

"I don't know who this 'ye' is but you have to tell me."

"Who's me? And why?" Harry boredly inquired.

"Me is I and because I said so." Chad said hotly, feeling like he was being mocked. He was.

"I thought yer name were Chad not I." Harry teased. Chad grew red in the face. 

"CHILDREN!" Fairy Godmother said while tapping a pen against her desk. "I'm glad your all getting to know each other but Chad brought a good point. Harry, you need to hand in your hook." Harry immediately went on the defensive.  

"Yer out o' yer pumpkin makin' mind if ye reckon I be givin' up me hook." Harry growled. Fairy Godmother gasped. "It was a  _beautiful_ pumpkin! Besides the point, we cannot allow a student to walk the school grounds armed with a weapon."

"I be nah a student, I'M A PIRATE!" Harry yelled. 

"Pirate or not, you need to give up your hook during your time here!" Harry looked as if he were going to give her the hook in the most brutal sense of the word until Uma snatched his attention.

"FIRST MATE!" Uma yelled, snapping everyone's attention to her, especially Harry. The two of them seemed to communicate in a series of angry glares until Uma stared him down and he relented.

"God dammit. FINE! Take it." Uma seemed pleased as Harry slammed his hook down on the desk but he wasn't done yet. He leaned in on the desk, closer to Fairy Godmother.

"If anythin' happens to me hook, thar'll be Davy Jones' locker to pay." Harry threatened. Fairy Godmother ignored his threat, happy to finally get his hook.

"I promise, it will be taken good care of." She said as she put the hook in one of her bottom drawers. Harry took his spot back next to Uma, fidgeting with his hands. It's like he didn't know what to do with himself anymore. Fairy Godmother looked up at all of them and smiled.

"Now that that's taken care of, Doug, Audrey, Chad, do you mind showing your new roommates to their new rooms?" 

"But Fairy Godmother..." Audrey whined.

"NO BUTS! You all can go now. Except you Ben, you stay." Mal gave Ben a worried look, willing to disobey and stay if he needed her to but Ben just smiled and squeezed her hand. "Go, I'll be fine. I'll catch up with you later." Mal nodded and left with everybody else outside. After everyone left, Ben let out a sigh and sat down in front of the headmistress's desk.

"Yes, Fairy Godmother?"

* * *

 

_Uma sat down on a counter in her mom's currently empty restaurant. She closed up shop awhile ago. Her, Gil and Harry were all packed, ready to leave for Borea--whoops, Auradon the next morning. But first, Uma had a few things she needed to clear up with the boys before they left, mainly Harry._

_Gil and Harry strutted into the Fish and Chip Shoppe, Gil greeted Uma before racing to the kitchen to chow down as much slop and eggs as he could before they left. Harry walked towards Uma and leaned on a chair._

_"Wha's this big emergency thin' ye needed to tell us?" Harry inquired. Uma was used to his pirate jargon by now so he never held back._

_"More like needed to tell you." Uma said. Harry raised an eyebrow._

_"Look, when we get to Auradon it's not to play dress up princesses and princes, you know that right?" Uma asked._

_"Duh."_

_"When we get there, the goal is to break down this goddamn barrier."_

_"Wha' about th' deal wit' beastie?_

_"I'm gonna keep my end of the bargain, just not in the way beastie boy expects. If all goes well, he'll get what he wanted in the first place, more villain kids in Auradon, just with a little twist." Uma smirked then laughed. She loved secret plans._

_"As much fun as 'tis is to listen to our schemes, wha's so important that ye needed to tell me?" Harry asked impatiently. He wanted to get to the point._

_"As you know, the only way to break down the barrier is with the wand. With the fiasco I pulled a couple weeks ago at, what was it called, Collision? Cotillion? Whatever. After my stunt, they're gonna be watching me like a vulture and Gil's got the attention span the size of an egg so that leaves you."_

_"Fun, ye 'ave anybody particular in mind?"_

_"Well, Mal and poser posse trust you less than they can throw you, the rest of Auradon will probably be scared of you, so that leaves King Beastie Boy." Uma reasoned. Harry groaned. "Ugh, why him?"_

_"Because he's king and has got Ms. bippity bobbity boo_   _as one of his subjects. Gain his trust, get the wand."_

_"How? Like ye said, Mal, Jay, Evie 'n Carlos hate me, 'tis nah like thar gonna let me near him." Harry complained._

_"I don't care what you do or how you do it. Be his friend, be his secret lover, be his freaking life coach for evil's sake, just get his trust and get it fast." Uma demanded._

_" 'N wha' are ye 'n Gil gonna be doin' while I attempt th' impossible?" He snapped. Uma rolled her eyes. "The two of us will be dulling Auradorians expectations of us. We're gonna do whatever we need to do to get this done. Even if it means following...rules. The less people on our backs the better."_

_"Do I really 'ave to be th' one to get close to beastie?" Harry whined._

_"Do you really want to break down the barrier?"_

_"Yes."_

_"Then yes."_

_"This ain't gonna be easy, ye know that right?" Harry pointed out._

_"Yes, I do and no, it won't be but it'll be worth it." Uma looked Harry straight in the eyes, daring him to look away. He didn't. She had a_ _mischievous glint in her eyes that showed she was up to no good. None of them were._

_"Auradon's never gonna see us coming."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Flashbacks are fun. A few things....  
> First, thank you for all the kudos!  
> Second, Uma is NOT a villain but she is a major antagonist. (For now at least)  
> Third, the Fairy Godmother I write about is influenced off the movie(s). I only read one book (the third, I started backwards cause I'm dumb like that) and she seemed a bit uptight. I want to portray her as sweet and easy going but not the lady you want to mess with. Kind of like the badass grandma of Auradon.  
> Fourth, I SWEAR TO GOD, I heard the name The Sea Three referring to Uma's gang before. I just don't remember where...


	8. Pirates, Princesses and Princes, Oh My!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Sea Three's first day goes by rougher than a sea storm. And they're not the only ones. Ben gets a pretty rough surprise too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got bookmarked, more subscribers, comments and kudos...I'm happy. Thank you.
> 
> P.S. It starts of REALLY heavy but I SWEAR this is definitely one of the lighter fluffier chapters and while I don't have everything mapped out to the letter in my head I do know that after awhile it will be...less fluffy to say the least. Also, this chapter is more important than you think. If I did it right (and I probably didn't) then there should be some details that will drive the plot later on. Okay, I'll shut up now.

"Ben, I don't know if you know this, but I became friends with your parents long before your birth..." Fairy Godmother started. Ben internally groaned. Whenever adults started a conversation with him that included a story, especially about him or his family, he knew he was in for a long lecture. What was more annoying is that nine times out of ten the entire point of the story either didn't come or came at the very end.

"Don't worry I'm not going to bore you with the details." Ben's eyebrows automatically shot up in surprise before he quickly lowered them. He hope that didn't seem rude. Fairy Godmother only laughed at his expression. "Have you forgotten that I'm the headmistress of a school filled with hundreds of teenagers? I've picked up a few tricks." Ben gave a hum of appreciation but one thing bothered him, if she wasn't going to lecture him with stories, then what was he doing here?

"As I was saying, I became friends long before your birth. In fact, I was friends with them even when they were trying to get pregnant with you." Ben internally, and maybe externally, cringed. He  _so_ didn't want to hear details about his...creation.

"They tried so hard for so long, oops, bad choice of words. Any who, they tried and tried but they got nowhere. Eventually, they thought that part of the beast curse made your father sterile. Obviously it didn't but they were onto something when in came to the beast curse and your birth." Ben got more confused by the second. Where was Fairy Godmother going with this?

"Benjamin, how much do you know about your father's curse?" That question threw him for a loop. He obviously knew about the curse but no one had ever bothered to tell him the nit pick details of the matter.

"Just that because my father was...less than nice to people growing up, a fairy or something, cursed him and his kingdom to live as furniture but in my father's case a beast. The only way for the spell to be broken was for someone to fall in love with his personality rather than his status, money or looks before a special rose died. Luckily, my mother was just that someone." Ben answered. Why did it feel like he was being tested?

"Ah yes,  _Beauty and the Beast,_ your parents famous love story. And the Enchantress, the witch that cursed your father was more...thorough, than most thought including I myslef." Ben raised an eyebrow. He was so confused. Fairy Godmother leaned on her desk, a more serious look taking over her features.

"When your parents finally had you, your father had been elected King of Auradon. As according to custom all of the most powerful creatures in the land came to wish you good fortune with spells gifts or...predictions." 

"Predictions?" Ben asked.

"This one magical being, a wizard I believe, came to your celebration. He was the last one I believe and very different from the others, including myself. Instead of giving magic or protection he gave information."

"What kind of information?" Ben asked.

"It's not something I could forget.  _Your old troubles are not in your past, previous punishments for sins will continue from first kin to the last."_   Ben looked at her to explain. 

"Confused? So was I. I could never figure out what he meant and he left before anyone could ask him. Just like, forgive the cliche, magic. We all left his words alone, stored away in the back of our minds until around the time you began to walk and talk. I already knew that you were a special boy regardless of your parents position, but I never knew  _how_  special. You were always more... abrasive than the other children. And I don't mean being mean or bullying anyone just, more willing to try different things, to roughhouse. Your parents noticed too, I just told them to let you be a kid, that you'll grow out of it but you never did...you sort of adapted that side of yourself. It wasn't until you got older and got more impulsive and occasionally had a temper tantrum that your parents and I decided to do some digging. Apparently, The Enchantress was more through in the curse than we all thought. She didn't just curse your father...she cursed his entire bloodline." Ben eyes widen like saucers.

"No way, I would've noticed a magical lady putting a curse on me." Fairy Godmother winced. "See that's the thing, she didn't curse you directly but more indirectly. What you have is what your parents and I like to call 'The Beast Gene.' Anybody of your fathers bloodline will become more...susceptible to impulsive decisions, snark like personalities and/or rage problems." Ben stood up from his chair and began to pace back and forth.

"No way, that can't be me, I've never hurt anybody in my entire life!" Ben exclaimed. Fairy Godmother walked around to the front of her desk.

"I know you haven't and you probably never will. The beast gene doesn't turn you into a beast it just gives you more animalistic qualities at times. Haven't you ever noticed how how easily it comes to growl or roar, playfully or not? How your not that afraid of taking a step onto the wild side or change?" Ben had to admit to himself that Fairy Godmother had a point but those moments in his life just happened naturally, not like some bubbling pool of anger waiting to overflow and devour him. Ben stopped in his tracks.

"Why are you telling me this. Why now?" Fairy Godmother let out a deep heavy sigh. That wasn't a good sign.

"Your parents wanted to tell you when you were eighteen but after the cotillion and how easily you snapped at your father, I knew it had to be sooner rather than later." Fairy Godmother stepped up to Ben and placed her hands on each side of his arms.

"Ben, this is  _not_  something you have to worry about. Your not gonna transform into a beast in the middle of the day. If anything the most the beast gene has done to you is make you more impulsive."

"What does being impulsive have to do with anything?" Ben asked. This all had to have a point. Fairy Godmother let out another breath.

"Are you absolutely sure about bringing Uma and her gang here?" Ben stepped out of Fairy Godmothers hands. So this was what this entire thing was about.

"Seriously? That's what you told me that entire story for? To tell me that my 'beast gene' is making do things?" Ben snapped.

"No, to make you aware of what causes your impulsiveness so you can stop yourself and distinguish good ideas from bad ones." Fairy Godmother defended.

"So you think Uma and the gang being here is a bad idea. Did you think my proclamation was a bad idea too?" Ben asked, hurt.

"Benjamin, you know I don't but look back at the past few days. You lied about where you and your friends were, illegally snuck out onto an island full of villains who less than love you, made a deal showing just about all your cards and then practically smuggled three teenagers into Auradon. I just want you to recognize your impulsiveness and be able to stop yourself."

"My 'impulsiveness' is the only thing getting things done." Ben retorted. Tensions were high, Ben didn't see this conversation coming.

Fairy Godmother sighed. "I don't want to fight with you."

Ben waited a moment before releasing a breath. "I don't wanna fight either." He conceded.

"I just want you to be sure. Ben, are you sure?" He didn't hesitate. "Yes." The tension in Fairy Godmothers shoulders left, same with Ben. He calmed down a little bit and saw that Fairy Godmother wanted to help, not hurt. It's what she does. Fairy Godmother put a tentative smile on her face. She was tired, Ben could tell, he was too.

"Well in that case, I will let you go. I will also inform your parents that I told you the truth." Ben nodded. In all honesty, he wasn't sure whether or not to be mad at his parents for not telling him sooner but on the other hand, he kind of understood. He didn't have the best reaction to it. So, he just settled on leaving Fairy Godmother's office. As he headed for the door, she called out for him to stop.

"Yes, Fairy Godmother?"

"Be careful Ben. Even ideas with the best intentions can have rotten endings. Sometimes you just can't trust--"

"Villain kids?" Ben finished with a bit of a bite. Fairy Godmother softly shook her head.

"Yourself."

* * *

Mal would've paid to see Audrey showing Uma their room. She honestly didn't know who would come out of there alive. Right now she was walking around school grounds with Evie, Carlos and Jay. Lonnie had left to check in with her mom and put the swords away. At first, she wanted to hang outside Fairy Godmother's office to wait for Ben but Evie convinced her that she didn't know how long he'd been in there and that they had to put her mom, who was in her backpack, back in her tank. So that was what she was doing now, heading back to her dorm room which coincidentally happened to be a few halls away from where Audrey and now Uma's rooms where. And if they happened to walk by their rooms while walking the long way to her and Evie's room, then who was she to say anything?

The VK's walked the halls talking about random things. Mostly, how the Sea Three would react to their rooms and roommates. Going as far as to place bets on who would break first. They all agreed that Gil would probably be fine, at most, annoying Doug from time to time. It was Harry and Uma was where the money was at. Metaphorical money of course, they were all broke after buying things like art supplies, cloth, books and magazines. What kind of magazines where being bought, Mal didn't want to know. They could've varied from sports to...less sporty things. Carlos speaking broke her out of her thoughts.

"I don't care what you two say, there's no way Harry 'let's hook em' Hook is going to survive in a dorm with Chad peacefully. It's just not possible." He said. Battle lines had been drawn. Mal and Jay were hellbent on believing that Uma and Audrey would be the first to break while Evie and Carlos remained unconvinced that it wouldn't be Harry and Chad who tried to kill each other first.

"We never said anything about them living peacefully." Jay started. "Just that when the time comes that someone breaks, it's gonna be Uma or Audrey. I'm calling it. Death by hair strangulation." The four of them let out a laugh at Jay's prediction.

"Jay's right. Harry is Uma's lapdog. He wouldn't bite until she told him too. And I know Uma, she's totally losing it first." Mal defended.

"And I know Chad. There's only so long someone on  _Auradon_ can handle Chad. Someone from the Isle lasting longer? Not happening." Evie counter argued. The four of them continued to share their theories on who would break first and why until they finally hit the girls' hall where a screaming could be heard from down the hallway where the VK's were at.

"Is that?" Carlos started

"Audrey and Uma?" Evie finished. Mal smirked while Jay let out a laugh.

"Man, Mal and I are  _so_ winning this bet!

* * *

Uma was ready to rip this girl's hair out. Of course she wouldn't ruin her own beautiful braids. That was ludicrous. What was also ludicrous was this Audrey's instance that the room should remain shades of pink instead of shades of blue. 

"Pink is a classic! Plus this way my room first, IT'S STAYING PINK!" Audrey shouted.

"Classic can kiss my ass. Haven't you heard? Edge is in. And it's my room now too. IT'S TURNING BLUE!" Uma shouted back.

"Pink goes with everything!"

"Not more so than blue!"

"Pink is a classic princess color!"

"You already know what I think about 'classic' and do I look like a princess to you?"

"Oh heavens no!"

"Then it's settled. We're making the room blue."

"Over my dead body."

"That can be arranged!"

"Is that a threat?"

"NO, BUT I CAN MAKE IT ONE!" Uma and Audrey went back and forth fighting about what color the room should be. Audrey had never met such rudeness from someone in her life, not even from Mal, and that was saying something. Meanwhile, Uma was ready to throw this princess overboard. If she didn't have her plan in motion...Uma's train of thought stopped as she saw those traitorous VK's standing in the doorway trying and failing to hold in their laughs. As if today wasn't bad enough already.

"Everything....everything okay?" Jay barely managed out, not even trying to hold back his amusement.

"No, this little...sea witch is trying to disrupt my way of life!" Audrey explained. Uma whipped around to face her, half wishing she hit her with her braids. Man, she wished she had her sword with her but Beastie boy had advised that it would be taken when that got to this school. And he was right. Just look what happened to Harry and his hook. Uma focused her thoughts on this...this...pink prissy princess.

"Sea witch? Oh, that's gotta be the nicest thing you've said to me. Really, I'm touched. And get ready for more disrupting if you think I'm letting this place stay pink." Honestly, couldn't this girl follow her mother's example and take a nap? Maybe she could convince Mal to do it. Like mother like daughter. Uma smirked but frowned when Audrey started speaking.

"IT'S. STAYING. PINK." 

"IT'S. TURNING. BLUE." In amidst of all the chaos, Carlos noticed something about the current argument.

"Why does this argument sound so familiar?" He inquired.

"What are you talking about?" Evie asked. Carlos clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth.

"Something about color arguing, especially pink and blue. It's on the tip of my tongue but I just can't place where--" Carlos was cut of by the sound of Uma trying to rip off the pink wallpaper and Audrey screaming even  _louder_  than before. How that was possible, no one knew. Also, how hadn't a teacher or somebody come in to check all the commotion? At this point, Jay, who was still laughing had to physically hold Audrey back from doing something stupid. Like throw a shoe at Uma. Mal was just there, laughing. Mal turned her attention to Carlos and Evie.

"Yeah, I think I know what your talking about. It was from the History of Fairytales book right? The one we had to read for class?" Carlos snapped his fingers in agreement but couldn't speak due to Uma and Audrey.

"Your the worst roommate ever! How can you not like pink?"

"Probably because I have taste?"

"FLORA AND MERRYWEATHER!" Carlos shouted as he had his eureka moment. Everyone went quiet and look at him.

"Remember? In sleeping beauty? When Flora and Merryweather fought over Aurora's dress color and whether it should be pink or blue? Audrey, this should be your forte." Carlos said. The VK's broke out into laughter while Uma and Audrey went back to fighting. Uma wondered how her boys were adjusting. It had to be better than this. Right?

During all the commotion another question rattled around in Carlos's head. There was only one bed seeing as Audrey never had a roommate before. If they were ready to kill each other for wallpaper colors, what were they going to do when it came to who slept on which side?

* * *

 Harry was starting to think that Chad put the 'Bore' in Boreadon. 

He knew he was a villain kid who did, still does, bad things and he accepted that. Hell, he  _thrived_  off that but no one deserved this torment. Not even Tick-Tock Croc.

At the moment, after Chad had led him to his, whoops,  _their_  new room, he proceeded to show off every trophy that he ever won... _ever._ Harry sat on the left bed, barely listening. He didn't care about it at trophy number one. He cared even less for trophy number seven.

"And I got this participation award when I was nine during soccer. I kept falling and aiming towards the wrong goal during the second half but the coach said I kept playing, regardless of how much he begged me to stop." Chad said with pride as he held up a small bronze award. Harry assumed the character at the top was kicking a soccer ball but the trophy was so old the ball was just gone. Chad pick up yet  _another_  trophy. Harry didn't even know where he was getting them from. It was like the trophies were just...there.

"I also got this when I was nine but this time it was football and--"

" 'N let me guess, ye ran as hard as ye could wit' the ball 'n went fer a goal or whatever 'n when ye went to throw it...ye fell." Harry interrupted. 

"No." Chad said defensively. "I threw the ball and I  _didn't_ fall...I just accidentally hit the quarterback in the face effectively ending the game." Chad finished. Harry rolled his eyes. 

"O' course ye did." While Chad went through his stuff searching for more 'trophies' to show off, Harry spent time in his head and somehow managed to keep his thoughts to himself. 

He had known Chad a total of fifteen minutes and within ten he knew that Chad was an arrogant, stuck up, dependent little...jerk. Harry noticed how he didn't call Chad stupid. He wasn't, at least he didn't think so. It was more like it wasn't all...there. He didn't know what 'it' was but he knew Chad didn't have most of it. Harry takes back what he said about Chad being Boreadon's Gil. Chad was nothing like him. With Gil, he was either blissfully unaware or wasn't motivated enough to figure some stuff out. With Chad, Harry wasn't sure there was anything there to figure stuff out with! Nothing fully functioning at least. Besides, Gil could be endearing, Chad was just...annoying.

Harry watched as Chad, who had found another trophy, talked to him about some other sport that he miserably failed at. He talked about his failures with such pride. Harry wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. He tuned Chad out. He bet he could guess the story just by looking at the trophy tag anyways.

 _"If tis wha' charmin' Beastie is gonna be like, Uma can count me out. She can bribe Gil wit' eggs or somethin'."_ Harry thought. Uma's plan was the only reason Harry was playing nice. If not for that, he would've thrown himself overboard. Actually, scratch that. He'd throw Chad overboard. Why should he suffer for another person's annoyingness?

As Chad kept talking, Harry kept looking but not really paying attention. He brain was still stuck on one little thing, and this one little thing was starting to grate on his nerves. Now Harry could admit, in his head of course, that he was a little rusty on his fairytales. Not like he ever cared with his dad and all of the people he grew up with failures all being glorified into books. But still, he knew some things like Chad was the son of Cinderella and Prince Charming. The thing that bothered him was, if Chad was the offspring off a guy literally named Prince  _Charming,_ WHERE IN THE DAVY JONES' LOCKER WAS ALL THE CHARM? Did it skip a generation? Because Harry couldn't see this appealing to anybody. Isle or Auradon.

From a physical view point, Harry could understand it. Chad wasn't ugly and was quite easy on the eyes. From any other view point Harry was more lost than a pirate without a map. At some point Chad must've stopped talking and asked him a question because he was looking at Harry with an expectant look.

"Wha'?" Harry asked.

"What do you mean wha'? Weren't you listening?" Chad asked.

"No" Harry answered bluntly. He only had to charm Beastie, Chad could stick to his trophies. Chad looked briefly offended before shrugging it off. As if reactions like his were normal. _That's sad._

"I asked about how many trophies you had." Chad restated.

"None." Harry answered bluntly. Chad snorted.  _"How princely."_ Harry thought.

"Are you really that bad at sports?"

"On the contrary, I was among the best, the Isle jus' had a different way of countin' victories." Oh look at that, Harry was back to censoring himself again, great. It was a bad habit when he was talking to someone who wasn't Uma or Gil.

"How'd you count it?" Chad asked, forever nosey.

"Whoever had the least amount o' broken bones won." Harry dully explained. His lifelessness didn't seem to faze Chad.

"Sounds brutal."

" 'Twas. 'Twas fun." Harry smirked thinking back to the Isle. It was so satisfying to hear the crunch of someone else's bones and to know that  _you_  where the one who did it.

"You talk funny. I like it." Chad declared. Harry scoffed.

"Ye look funny. I don't like ye."

"I still don't know who ye is but I bet they'll like me along with you, in time." Chad said happily. Harry sighed and rolled his eyes. "Doubt it."

"You should join tourney. Your brutality might come in handy." Chad suggested.

"Pass." Harry watched as Chad fished something out of one of his drawers.  _"Don't be wha I reckon 'tis. DON'T BE WHA I RECKON 'TIS."_ Sure enough, Chad fished out,  _another_ trophy. But at least this trophy looked bigger...and modern.

"Do you think 'ye' would like to hear my tourney stories? Since you talk about them so much." Harry let out a groan before falling backwards onto the bed. 

_Dear goblins, if I still had me hook, I'd hook meself._

* * *

Doug was gone a total of five minutes.

FIVE MINUTES. 

Within those five minutes Gil, who Doug had shown the room and then promptly left to return his instrument to the band room, had somehow managed to create a small mountain of socks, underwear, some slimy grey mud? And what what he hoped to diamonds were eggs. 

"What...happened?" Doug asked as he circled around the pile. He didn't want to get to close because it smelled horrible.

"You said to make myself at home. Nothing says home like your own pile of slop and eggs with clothes to hold it in place." Doug's eyes widened as Gil stuck a finger out, picked up and licked some of the grey mud. Or what he assumed to be slop.

"I find that a couple of socks and underwear keep the eggs and slop from melting all over your floor." Gil explained, completely at ease. Doug watched in bewilderment as Gil continued his finger licks of his...pile. How could he eat that stuff? It looked like it had been fresh a month ago. It probably  _had_ been fresh a month ago!

"Stop eating that! Don't you want something, anything fresher than that?" Doug asked. Gil seemed to catch onto what he was saying.

"You mean the two week old bread? I tried to find it before we left but...no luck." Gil shrugged. Was that the best they had? Two week old bread. His father worked underground and still found better food than that. Doug had always agreed with Ben's proclamation but now, it felt like...more than agreement. It felt personal, which was weird since he'd never stepped foot on the Isle in his entire life.

"You know what, if you help me clean up this mess, I will take you somewhere where the food is even fresher than two weeks." The way Gil's eyes lit up had Doug's heart breaking. Villain kid or not everybody deserves fresh healthy food.

"Will this place have slop?" Gil asked. Doug gave him a confused look. "I have no idea what that is, but the place has milkshakes." The place Doug was talking about was the cafeteria. They had a thing for Milkshake Mondays. Lunch had already passed but as soon as next Monday came, Doug would buy him one...maybe two. The boy looked like he could eat.

"What's a milkshake?" Gil asked, tilting his head in curiosity.

"I have so much to show you." Gil raised an eyebrow in confusion but proceeded to help put or in Gil's case, stuff clothes into his old ripped orange and brown suitcase. Doug dutifully put Gil's clothes into an empty bag he had lying around but stopped in his tracks when he was what Gil was doing. While Gil was cleaning up the mess on the floor, he was putting the clothes that had the slop and eggs onto what Doug thought were his already clean clothes.

"No, no, no, no, no! Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop!" Doug said as he rushed towards Gil's suitcase trying to salvage Gil's clothes but to no avail. The slop and eggs had already seeped through and soaked the rest of Gil's clothes.

"Heigh Ho" Doug said as he tentatively picked up one of Gil's shirt. It was stained and soaked like the rest of Gil's stuff. "Do you have anymore clothes with you." Gil shook his head.

"Nope, but don't worry about that. I can always just put on the clothes and go out for a swim. I can dry in the sun and the stains will be gone. Just like back on the Isle." Gil explained with a happy grin on his face.

"As wet and uncomfortable as that sounds, I think your onto something. I have a an idea. " Doug closed Gil's suitcase and led Gil out the door. After a few twists and turns Doug led Gil to one of the school's laundry rooms. The one they were in now belong to the Tourney team and based off the look of the washers, the team finally decided to wash some of their uniforms.  _"Good."_   Doug thought. " _Some of the boys were starting to smell worse than an oil well."_ Doug dropped Gil's suitcase on top of an empty washer. It was a bit of a struggle though. Doug wasn't the strongest and Gil's clothing wasn't the lightest. 

"What is this place?" Gil asked in wonder.

"It's a laundry room. It's for cleaning dirty clothes." Doug explained.

"How does it work?" Doug began to go through the steps of doing laundry while explaining it.

"First you separate the lights from the darks. The last thing you want is a color blend, trust me. One time I accidentally put in one red shirt with a bunch of white socks and underwear, everything was pink for weeks. Then you set the washing dial. I usually use heavy but gentle works too for some things. Then push the button to get the water flowing. Load the machine with your separated clothes. You should do it in piles for the best cleaning. Add some detergent and close the lid. Now we wait." Doug said as the machine began whirring. Gil squatted down and watched in amazement as the clothes spun in circles both clockwise and counter clockwise.

"Wow, this is awesome! We never had anything like this back on the Isle."

"Stick around and I'll even show you how to work the dryer." Gil's eyes lit up at the prospect.

The two boys spent their time in the laundry room watching the clothes clean and Doug showing Gil the do's and don'ts of laundry. True to his word, Doug showed Gil how to use the dryer after the first pile was done. Gil was stuck on which appliance he liked better. The washer or the dryer. After three piles that Doug cleaned, he decided that Gil was ready to do the fourth and final pile on his own.

"Just do what I taught you. Separation, dial, detergent, close, wait. I'll be back with the pile of your clothes I left in the black bag back in my, oops, our room." Gil nodded vigorously before Doug left, determination in his eyes. He could do this. 

Doug was gone five minutes.

FIVE MINUTES.

He really should've learned his lesson after last time. Fool me once...

Doug returned to the laundry room with the black bag in tow. He proceeded to drop it and his jaw when he saw the mess that was the laundry room. Because what else do you call an explosion of soap that covered the floors and was halfway up to the machines? It looked like a soapy wonderland. Doug looked around at the mess and saw Gil standing there playing with the bubbles giving himself a goatee and a soap pile on top of his head. Doug just stood there with his mouth open, blatantly staring until Gil noticed him.

"Oh, hey Doug! I did the laundry but I think there was a um...a problem." Gil said motioning to the soap that practically surrounded everything.

"You think there was a problem? What happened?" Doug exclaimed completely in shock. How could someone make such a mess in such a short time period?

"Well I followed your instructions. Separation, dial, detergent, close, wait, but while I was waiting the washer didn't seem like it had enough soap in it so I added more. And I just kept adding more and more soap because it just didn't seem like enough. Before I knew it, there was more soap than clothes and water and then the machine just burst." Gil rambled on while making his hands mimic an explosion. "I tried to stop it by hitting the button but there was so much soap I couldn't  _see_ the button so the machine just gave out even more soap and then I wanted a mustache and now we're here." He finished. Doug still stood there for a second before the machine whirring snapped him out of it. " _THAT THING IS STILL ON?"_ Doug waded his way through the soap to turn off the machine.

"Heigh Ho, it all the way up to my knees. We gotta clean this up somehow." Gil agreed by nodding his head, his goatee fell off while doing so. Doug sighed. Fixing the laundry room was going to take ages. Possibly the rest of the day because there definitely had to be damages somewhere.

"I'll be right back. I'm gonna go get some mops or rags or something to clean up this mess." Doug struggled to get out of the soap without slipping. Easier said then done but he made it. Doug made it approximately two steps out the door before he stopped where he was and went back into the room. He grabbed Gil's hand and led him out of the laundry room, bringing him with him to get the cleaning supplies. He already went through this twice.

He wasn't going to let there be a third. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so NOT hating on Audrey and Chad. I just think that The Sea Three wouldn't have the kindest thoughts on them for their first meeting. The only reason why I even put the 'Beast Gene' in the story is to give reason to Ben's impulsiveness. His impulsiveness is going to be one of the driving factors of the story and also Fairy G's warning of not trusting yourself.


	9. A Little Competition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Desperate times call for desperate measures.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slow burn. I want whoever's reading this to remember that during this and future chapters. SLOW BURN! Enjoy! Also, turns out I only like to upload on Saturdays...

Ben had practically bolted out of Fairy Godmother's office. That had to have been the most weird and creepiest meeting he had ever been to in his life. More so than the time that Jordan invited Ben over to her room for a rug cleansing ceremony, to which he promptly and politely declined. Though, that moment was more weird than creepy. Ben got lost in his thoughts as he walked throughout campus. They varied from multiple topics.

_What did Fairy Godmother mean by not trusting yourself?_

_Where's Mal?_

_How are the Sea Three doing? I hope their okay...or at least not causing too much mayhem._

_What happened to Jay, Carlos and Evie?_

_WHERE IS MY GIRLFRIEND?_

Seriously though, Ben had to have been walking around in circles searching for the familiar purple (Evie had insisted it was boysenberry) hair or any of his friends really. He wanted to tell her, preferably all of them, about the meeting. Ben was about to give up when he ran right into Jane. Or more like she ran right into him. She was chasing Dude who was in search of bacon...or cookies. Whatever he found first. Ben had watched curiously as Dude ran by him only to turn around and barely catch Jane before she ran into him and fell.

"Oh my God! Thanks Ben." Jane panted out as Ben helped steady her.

"What are you doing?" Ben asked.

"Chasing Dude. He asked me if he could have some bacon and I said 'I don't have any, not now maybe later.' He didn't accept that so he jumped out of my arms and ran. I've been chasing him for ages." Jane explained, still panting. Ben turned around and to his surprise, Dude was still in eyesight digging in some girl's bag looking for food but only to come out with a tube of lipstick in his mouth. Ben gave a loud whistle in his direction to get his attention. Immediately, Dude abandoned the lipstick and ran into Ben's arms, giving him a lick on the cheek as hello...before actually  _saying_ hello.

"Hi Ben! Do you have bacon?" Dude asked, tail wagging in happiness.

"Not on me, sorry bud." After getting his answer Dude tried to wiggle out of his grip in search for food. But after hearing Jane's story, Ben was prepared, holding onto Dude with a firm grip.

"Stay." Ben ordered. Dude didn't stop wiggling but he did stop trying to escape.

"You have got to teach me how to do that." Jane said in amazement, refering about the earlier whistle.

"Believe it or not, saliva really helps." Ben advised while handing Dude back to her.

"Ew."

"You asked."

"Technically stated...Anyways, I'm glad I ran into you. Lonnie wants to talk to you about this month's travel plans and I need to talk to you about the student contest. I'd do it now but I wanna meet up with Carlos. He texted me something about a color fight."

 _"_ _Color fight? That doesn't sound good."_ Ben thought. 

"Okay. I guess I'm not doing anything right now. I can go and see Lonnie and we can talk about the contest later. There's still time." Ben concluded.

"Great! Lonnie's at the R.O.A.R practice gym." Ben thanked Jane for her directions and left her to deal with Dude and some color fight.

* * *

"Hey Lon!" Ben greeted as he walked into the gym. "I heard you needed to talk to me." Lonnie hopped down from the stairs she was sitting on to face Ben.

"Yeah I do, but it's pretty quick. I just wanted to tell you that we don't need to make a second trip to Agrabah due to them figuring out a solid olive trading system on their own. Also, Collodi, Pinocchio's home town, invited you and your guest to stay for future festivals in the later months or the current month or both. Unless you want to go to the Summerlands instead for those festivals. Your choice." Ben let out a groan of happiness. 

"Wherever we go we have to go to the wine and food festivals. Granted I've never been and we can't drink but my parents have and they say it's heavenly."

"That's the plan Princey."

"You know I'm a king now right?" Ben joked. Lonnie shrugged him off.

"Eh, I've known you since we were kids. You'll always be Princey to me."

* * *

Ben's week was borderline torturous. Between school stuff, king duties and being forced by Mal and his friends to take breaks so he stays sane, Ben was the poster boy for spread too thin. Ever since he got back from the Isle it was like his work doubled, no tripled, no QUADRUPLED. Okay, he might've been slightly dramatic but the stress was still very real.

Monday:

Bringing the Sea Three to Auardon, trying to help them adjust. Trying being the operative word here. He'd rarely even seen them since they arrived. Then there was that meeting with Fairy Godmother that still racked his brains. He told Jay, Evie, Mal and Carlos about it on the empty tourney field and they were hardly affected.

_"Awesome! More raw animal power on the field." Jay excitedly exclaimed ._

" _I don't think it works that way." Evie pointed out._

_"You don't look like a beast to me but I don't have anything to go on but your dad's statue outside the school." Carlos said. Mal put her head on his shoulder and wrapped her arms around him and he snuggled into her embrace._

_"You're still and you're always gonna be Ben to me."_

Tuesday:

Ben didn't know what was worse. Studying for exams or signing documents. He also didn't know what made his hand hurt more, flipping pages or writing signatures. At least he wasn't suffering alone. His friends were all with him in his office either on the floor or one one of the couches.

_"Why are we doing this to ourselves?" Mal cried out in frustration._

_"If I look at another magic equation I might cry." Jay announced from the floor._

_"C'mon guys. We have a huge test tomorrow and we gotta pass!" Carlos said trying to motivate the others. He wasn't affected in the slightest by all the homework and studying. Ben didn't know how he did it. Even he was ready to throw his school books out the window. Ben got distracted by Evie's yelp. Originally, she was at his desk working on some problems. Now, Evie was pacing holding her index finger. Looks like she broke a nail while erasing too hard._

_"Ow, shit! THESE ARE PROBLEMS ARE COSTING ME MY NAILS!"_

Wednesday: 

That exam royally kicked Ben's ass. The exam itself varied from nit pick questions like  _"What kind of key did Lady Tremaine use to lock Cinderella in the attic?"_ to deep, thought provoking problems like  _"What was one of the roots of Clause Frollo's racism and desire for Esmerelda?"_ He wasn't the only one affected too. The five of them slowly walked to lunch in a zombie like fashion.

_"I am so going to get kicked off of Tourney....or any other sport for that matter." Jay said dejectedly._

_"I don't even remember what I put down on half of the test." Mal admitted, still confused from the test._

_"Guys, I think I'm going to clown college." Carlos said fearfully._

_"Since we're in Auradon, I think it would be more like jester college." Evie corrected._

_"Thanks Eves...I really needed to know that."_

Thursday: 

Contests were hard to plan.

_"Contest? What contest? How can I enter? I bet I'll win." Jay said completely confident, his competitive side in full affect. They were all in Mal and Evie's room now._

_"It's more a contest of dumb luck." Ben stated._

_"Dumb luck or not, I'm totally gonna win." Jay stated._

_"Unless you don't." Evie mentioned to get on his nerves. Jay retaliated by sticking his tongue out at her._

_"What's the contest?" Carlos asked._

_"It's basically for students who are more into the politics side. If you write an essay that answers a certain question your name gets put into a hat that they draw the winners name out of or something. Whoever wins gets to spend the rest of the semester as my apprentice or something like that. It's the first time Auradon's ever done this. Even I don't know all the details." Ben explained._

_"So lemme get this straight. In order to win I'd have to add an essay to my mountain of homework_   _in order to spend time with you? And even if so there's a chance that my name wouldn't even be drawn?" Mal clarified._

_"Yup." Ben said. Mal shook her head. "I think I'm good. I can already spend all the time I want with you essay free." Mal stated. Jay, Carlos and Evie agreed._

Friday:

Ben knew he was the king. And he loved what he did. He had the actual power and opportunities to do something good in the world. But for the love of magic did everyone need him at the exact same time?!? Ben's day was swamped with meetings. From when he woke up at 7:00 to now at 2:30 in the afternoon. Ben already wasn't much of a morning person so the first meeting required coffee. Lots of it. Now he was all hopped up as he headed to Fairy Godmother's office for yet another meeting. What did this one count as of now? A total of twelve meetings? Ben didn't know, he lost count at seven. He hadn't even been able to go to class. For some, it sounds like a blessing but for him it just means more work he needs to do when he gets back to his office. Ben had barely seen his friends all day. The most he'd been able to do was say a quick 'Hi' between classes.

_"You have meetings today? Sounds better than Magic Equations. Please take me with you." Jay begged._

_"Oooh, during your meetings can you try to bring up to the board that students should be able to take as much classes as they want? If you can of course." Carlos asked._

_"Meetings? Do I have to be there? Not today? Thank god, I have chemicals to mix." Evie said._

_"Don't worry about us Benny boo. You just have fun at your meeting." Mal added. Now Ben was standing in front of Fairy Godmother's office waiting to be let inside. It was weird being back here seeing as last time there was the whole 'Beast Gene' reveal. Regardless, Fairy Godmother opened the door with a big smile._

_"Ben, nice seeing you. I'm glad you could see me today." She said while leading Ben into her office and ushering him to a chair. "It's no problem. I'm here to help. It's literally my job." Ben joked as he sat down. Fairy Godmother let out a little chuckle from her position behind her desk. "Yes, I suppose it is. But before we get started, I wanted to make sure your okay first." Ben looked at her in confusion for a moment until he remembered the last time he saw her._

_"Oh yeah, that. Um, I guess that I'm fine. Have you told my parents yet?" Ben inquired._

_"Yes, I have. They're shocked and a little nervous on how to approach you with it." She answered. 'They're not the only ones.' Ben thought._

_"Well I haven't seen them all week so I guess they haven't figured out a way yet."_

_"I'm sure they will." Fairy Godmother reassured, "Now, I wanted to wrap up details with you about the contest."_

_"Ah yes. Jane told me that she has it all under control and I completely trust her." Ben said._

_"I do too but you know me, I can be a bit of a perfectionist so I wanted to go over some last minute details with you." Fairy Godmother replied._

_"Of course but before we get into that I wanted to talk to you about something now that I finally have a moment of your time." Fairy Godmother's eyebrows climbed up in confusion._

_"About Auradon's security..."_

* * *

Harry's week was borderline torturous. Who knew charming a King would be  _this hard?_ Seriously though, how did Mal do it? Oh, that's right, magic. Unfortunately, Harry was kind of lacking in that department. He had been trying all week to speak with Ben but no absolutely no luck. Good or bad. He hadn't even been able to get near him due to him being with those rotten VK's all week. It was like they were his own personal security but smaller. 

Monday:

Harry was busy settling into his new room with his new roommate. Chad could be quite the handful when he wanted to be. Which was All. The. Time. After finally shutting up about his trophies he kept on whinging about some girl that broke up with him and how even though he fixed her car she still wouldn't get back with him. Harry thought who ever this girl was had some brains to her, even if she did date Chad in the first place. What did he say her name was? Aubrey or something? He wasn't paying attention, preferring to tune him out than actually pay attention. Besides, he had a plan to start. Only problem was that Harry couldn't think of a way to actually  _talk_ to Ben. Hard to fool someone into trusting you when you rarely see them. Regardless, Harry was not deterred, it only meant that he would have to be more creative with how he went about this. 

_Oh, wha' fun._

Harry had spent the rest of the afternoon and most of the evening looking for Beastie boy. He got quite a few strange yet appreciative looks as he stalked though the hallways, daring anyone to get in his way. Since this was Harry's first time in Boreadon, he didn't exactly know where he was going. It didn't help that Boreadon was easily double the size of the Isle. He actually thought it was quite obnoxious for people to need this much space.

_Squiffy princes n' princesses._

As Harry roamed about the school grounds looking for a certain King, he ran into Gil in the hallway who was covered head to toe in foam bubbles. Life on the Isle taught Harry to always have a straight face and teasing smirk but Gil was always the exception as Harry immediately gave him a bewildered look. He contemplated on whether or not he should ask Gil what happened. Biting the bullet, Harry mentally went 'screw it'.

_"Gil...wha' happened?"_

_"Laundry room explosion. By the way, did you know that there was a thing called laundry and a specific place to do it in?" Gil asked curiously. If he was bothered by the look on his mate's face, he didn't show it, seemingly more interested in the bubbles in his hands._

_"Anyways, I gotta go. I told Doug I'd put some of the cleaning supplies away for him." Harry gave Gil a once over to make sure he wasn't missing anything that may have been covered by all the soap. Sure enough, there was nothing in Gil's hands._

_"Gil...wha' swabbin supplies?" Harry questioned. Gil's eyes lit up in recognition. "OH! Maybe that's what Doug was calling my name for after I left. I gotta go!" Gil turned around and started to run down the hallway before he stopped in his tracks and turned to face Harry._

_"I almost forgot, how's the plan going?" Harry rolled his eyes in response. "Gee Gil, could ye be a wee bit louder?" Gil shrugged before replying._

_"HOW'S THE PLAN--"_

_"WORKING ON IT!" Harry interrupted. What just happened was his own damn fault anyway. Gil had a tendency to be a bit overly literal._

_"Good luck. Uma wants reports." Harry internally groaned. Of course she wants reports, why make his life any easier? He watched as Gil bid him good bye and ran off in the other direction leaving Harry wondering what was weirder, that boy or this school? Also, what the in the devil was Laundry room?_

As the sun set, Harry had seen no sights of the king. He must've walked around Boreadon Prep a hundred times by now. He was currently cutting across a very large field to get back to his _d_ orm ready to give up for the day when he caught the familiar mop of brown hair in his sights _._

_Thar ye be._

Except, that wasn't the only thing he noticed. Harry also saw four more multicolored haired teens sitting on the bleachers in next to beastie boy. He quickly ducked behind a set of bleachers near him before he was seen. " _Maybe they won't stay long and I can finally get this blasted plan started."_ Harry thought hopefully. His hoped died as he continued to crouch there looking at the six of them talk. He had no idea what they were talking about but it must've been sickly sweet since the little dragon poppet had wrapped her arms around Beastie. He rolled his eyes at the sight of the affection. What was worse was that he had to stay there until they all left, lest he risk getting caught.

_'Tis gonna be a long night._

Tuesday:

School was an awful thing. Whoever came up with it was the true villain in any story. Harry had been in Boreadon a single day and he already had some big exam the next day on subjects he couldn't give a toss about. On the Isle tests were laughed at. If he ever bothered to show up at school, the most he'd done was stay or at least pay attention to name call. Instead of doing something Boreadon would consider productive like, studying, he did something that he thought was productive, like find King Beastie Boy. This time though, instead of wandering through the hallways wasting time, he thought he'd actually ask someone. Only problem was that everyone was scared of him and he didn't like anyone at the school and he wanted to keep it that way but now it was a little counter productive. As a last resort, Harry accepted the fact that he might have to ask Chad where Ben might be. Luckily, he was able to catch up with him in their dorm where Chad was dressed in an overly bright yellow and blue uniform while packing a bag full of water.

_"Where are ye going?" Harry asked, his curiosity overshadowing his current needs for the moment. Chad whipped around in surprise before relaxing at the sight of Harry. Personally, Harry thought that was an odd reaction seeing as he was himself and Chad was...Chad._

_"Ye's not here but I'm heading for Swords and Shields practice. Wanna join? It's fun and has swords." Chad said in a singsongy way hoping to get Harry agree especially with the swords part._

_"Pass. On a completely unrelated note, do ye know where I might find King Beas-I mean King Ben?" Harry asked, hoping he was being inconspicuous enough. Luckily, Chad didn't seemed to notice his slip of words._

_"Ben? Why?"_

_"Oh, just so I can get the full goodness experience from the ruler himself." Harry quickly replied. He'd been working on that excuse all the while he was searching for Chad who snorted at Harry's response._

_"Right, of course. Well if he's not on the field or in the school, he's probably in his office." Chad answered. Harry was about to ask where that was when something caught his attention._

_"Belay that, aren't ye gonna ask me about ye?" Harry asked. Chad simply shrugged. "You never answer me when I do." Chad's phone alarm went off snapping Chad into action._

_"I gotta go, Lonnie's gonna make me do extra pushups if I'm late again." He bolted past Harry and out the door. Harry walked out of the door way and called out for him._

_"Belay, I mean, WAIT, WHERE'S BEN'S OFFICE?" Harry shouted. Chad shouted back, "SORRY MAN, I CAN'T BE LATE!" before finally disappearing behind a hallway turn. Harry groaned._

_Thanks Chad, always a help._

Using basic common sense, Harry determined that if Ben was still here for school his office was probably somewhere in the building. So after knocking on dozens of doors and getting stuck in many unwanted conversations, Harry reached one of the higher floors where he continued his process of knocking and waiting. Finally he hit a door that looked a little bit different than all the rest. A little more grandeur.

_This must be it. Finally._

He was about to knock when he heard voices inside. He pressed his ear to door to hear better. Someone was complaining about equations and Harry knew that voice anywhere. It was Jay, and where there was Jay, there was his little posse too. Sure enough, a chorus of voices followed his, the other VK's. Harry let out a long groan. He's been doing that a lot lately. He couldn't figure out how the VK's were always around Ben. Nevertheless, he leaned off the door and walked away.

_Better try again tomorrow._

Wednesday:

He probably failed and he didn't care. Harry barely even tried on that test. The only reasons why he even bothered to fill anything in was because of Uma's insistence that the three of them blend in. Which didn't only mean that he had to attend school but that he had to try. Or at least look like he was. On the other hand, Uma never specified on how _much_  he tried. Harry chuckled softly at himself as he looked around the room. HIs eyes landed on the current object of his plan. Harry didn't know what kind of luck it was that Beastie and his friends shared this class together but he sure as hell was going to use it to his advantage. In fact, the minute the bell rung he was going to follow that little group of friends until they broke off and he could finally corner Ben. The six of them looked particularly strung out after the test so following them should be as easy as mud. What's the Boreadon saying here? Easy as pie?  _That sounds dumb. He pondered, How could pie be easy?_ Dismissing his thoughts, Harry focused on his objective. Unfortunately, the teacher had a different idea.

_"Mr. Hook, would you stay a minute." The teacher asked as the bell rang. No I won't. Harry thought as he saw the VK's plus Ben head out the door in a zombie like fashion. Though, the teacher was not deterred as they called his name again._

_"Harry Hook, please stay." Harry whipped around to see silky brown hair and light brown eyes. Why does she look familiar? Harry wondered. The woman walked back to her desk and sat on the edge of it. He probably should've paid attention when she said her name...Oh well._

_"I wanted to see how your adjusting." Lady teacher said._

_"Quite fine." Harry answered. Would be better if he could talk to the damn King already._

_"Well I'm no stranger to new places so I get the feeling." Harry was barely able to bite back 'I bet you don't.'_

_"So if you need anything, I'm here." The teacher finished kindly. Harry wasn't paying attention to her words but more her accent. It sounded like his Scottish one. He decided to test his theory._

_"Weel, tis crakin' tae see a teacher care aboot her students." He says with a smirk. The tips of the lady teacher's mouth to form a smirk of her own._

_"Whit kind o' teacher wid ah be if didnae?" She replied back. Harry's eyebrows climbed his face in surprise and appreciation. He didn't expect to find someone who shared his Scotland roots. Said roots made it even harder for people to understand him with his pirate jargon and accent. The only reason why he didn't go full Scottish jargon all the time is so that people would  actually understand his threats of piracy. Remembering the current task at hand, Harry abruptly ended the conversation ._

_"You'd be th' teachers ah grew up wi'. Guid day." He said quickly, turning around and heading out the door leaving lady teacher slightly shocked._

_He really ought to learn her name._

Harry was easily able to catch up to Ben and the VK's due to them still walking in a zombie-esque manner. Only problem was that they were all on an open field so Harry had nowhere to hide and watch from afar waiting for an opportunity. He had to abort.

_"BLAST! Can't they leave th' lad alone fer five damn minutes?"_

In a blind rage, Harry kicked the trunk of a tree next to him.

Thursday:

Harry could admit to himself that he had a bit of a stalking problem. He couldn't help it. Despite his loud and threatening demeanor, life on the Isle had taught him the benefits of lurking and watching from the shadows. So for the past week he had been looming over Ben and VK's like a shadow yet there hadn't been a window of opportunity. He had no idea what he was gonna tell Uma when she asked for an update. Apparently, she'd found a secluded cove of trees that hid people from snooping eyes. She had deemed it their new meet up spot until further notice. It was a long walk past an old bridge.

Oh, and his foot still hurt from yesterday so that was a plus.

As Harry approached the spot he could hear the faint splashes of a waterfall nearby. The closer he got, the more he was swallowed by leaves until the only ones who could see him was Uma and Gil who were waiting for him. Uma was pacing back and forth and Gil was sitting against a large rock with his knees tucked in and his arms wrapped around himself.

_"There you are!" Uma said impatiently, "We've been waiting ages for you. I need a status report. Now."_

_"Laundry is a lot of fun. Even after what happened at the end." Gil happily inputed._

_"Enough about the laundry. I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE LAUNDRY!" Uma let out a deep sigh, "Audrey is involved with a lot of clubs that runs the school. I'm working on a way to get into said clubs in order to silently change things from the inside." She looked at the two boys expectantly, waiting for one of them to speak up. Harry stayed silent._

_"I'm still learning Doug's schedule. He likes to move things around a lot so he can spend as much time as he can with Evie. If I can learn his I can probably learn hers and that way we could know some of times that the VK's are running around school and when they aren't." Gil reported. It was moments like these that Harry remembered that for all of Gil dumb moments, he had quite a few bright ones too. Uma nodded at Gil then stared at Harry. "Well?" She questioned._

_."Well, about charmin' Beastie, thar's been a few...complications." He answered, trying to choose his words carefully. Uma was going to explode no matter what but he could try to minimize the explosion._

_"WHAT DO YOU MEAN COMPLICATIONS?" Uma interrogated._

_" 'Tis nah me fault! I've been tryin' all damn week to get to Ben but those blasted VK's are always near him. Ye know as well as I that they wouldna let him in a two mile radius of me if they knew I was thar. 'N they be always wit' him!" Harry defended. Uma let out another long sigh._

_"Look, the only reason why I'm accepting that is because I know that you have one of the toughest jobs but DO NOT mistake that for leniency. You get to Beastie Boy. Like I said before, do what ever you need to. Do something, anything, but do it fast. Your time is running out." Uma warned._

_"Aye aye captain."_

So now Harry was lurking through the halls  _again_ looking for the ever disappearing king. Except this time, he was honestly stupefied. He had checked the cafeteria, both inside and out, the fields and even his office. Ben was no where to be found. In all honesty he wanted to give up but there was this nagging little voice dancing in the back of his head that sounded suspiciously like Uma.

_You know there's one more place you can look._

With a heavy sigh Harry dragged himself to the section of school where Uma's dorm was. Where, coincidentally, Mal and Evie's room was too. He listened for a brief second at each and every door until he arrived at the one that finally had the voices that matched the ones he was looking for. Unsurprising, it sounded like the entire gang was there too. Harry let out a low groan before preparing to eavesdrop but a voice from behind startled him.

 _"What are you doing?" A girl like voice spoke out._ _Harry whipped around to see a petite brunette girl hold a stack of papers looking at him. He'd seen her around sometimes. She was usually with Carlos or Fairy Godmother. What was her name again? Janet? Whatever her name was, she looking at him with expectant curious eyes, waiting for an answer._

_"None of ye-I mean, I be looking fer Uma. I don't quite know all the rooms." Harry lied. The girl nodded in understanding. Auradorians were scary easy to fool._

_"Oh, well your not gonna find her there. That's Evie and Mal's room. In fact, I don't think your gonna find her in her room either. I think I saw her a few halls ago." The girl informed._

_"That's fine. I can catch up wit' her later. Wha' are ye up to?" He asked, desperately trying to steer the conversation topic off of him and guiding her down the hall, hopefully in the direction of her room. Last thing he needed was to be caught outside of Mal and Evie's room. Also, vaguely trying to learn her name. She caught on._

_"Jane." she answered, "And I'm just dropping these contest papers off at my room down the hall. Got my work cut out for me tonight." Harry was filled with curiosity. The competitive side of him awakened at the thought of competition "What contest?" Realization dawned Jane's face._

_"Oh shoot! Your and your friends are new and so is this contest so you guys probably don't know. The royal court started a competition this year. Whatever students that like politics can apply to shadow Ben, Evie, Lonnie and or myself to learn about the ways of the kingdom. Personally, I think students are just applying for the vacation trips but little do they know that those trips are more paperwork than sightseeing." Jane said._

_" 'N anyone can apply?" He questioned._

_"Yup. As long as you follow all the application rules. Lots of people chickened out at the essay part though." Jane warned. Harry's scrunched his nose and eyebrows at the thought of an essay. Internally revolting away. Essays didn't sound appealing in the slightest. Still, Uma was right, he was running out of time._

_"How long is this contest open?"_

_"Until tomorrow morning." Uma did say to do something, anything, whatever he had to do. At this point, Jane had stopped him from walking as he assumed they were at her room. He looked between her and her papers multiple times before releasing a sigh._

_"Do ye know where can I get an application?"_

Friday:

After getting an application from Jane along with a set of rules and regulations, Harry set right out to work, heading towards his room and not planning to leave until he finished the paper and filled out the application. He started off great, completing the application under half an hour. When the time to write the actual paper came, his mind drew up blanks, which annoyingly and ironically enough was the only thing on his paper. Hell, he didn't even know he'd fallen asleep at his desk until Chad startled him awake and in his sleepy defense, accidentally punched Chad square in the jaw.

_"OW! What the heck man? I already got a beating from Lonnie and Jay at practice, I don't need one from you too!" Chad exclaimed while holding his jaw._

_"Wha' the hell were ye even doin' " Harry asked while yawing. He didn't bother with an apology. It wasn't his thing and he wasn't sorry. Chad had no business waking him up like that, or at all._

_"Ye was doing nothing. I was trying to wake you up. Which I am never doing again!" Chad declared, "Besides, what're you even doing?"_

_"Tryin' to write out this damn essay. Now keep yer trap shut, I needs to concentrate if I'm gonna be done afore six." He begrudgingly answered. He wanted as little competition as possible. The less Chad knew the better. Except, Chad seemed to know more than he did with the 'are you serious' look on his face._

_"Wha' ?" Harry snapped._

_"You wanna be done before six?"_

_"Yeah. 'N this ain't helpin'."_

_"Dude, it's 7:30." Harry's eyes gaped as he looked at Chad, his paper and then the window. It had been bright and sunny when he started at four in the afternoon. Now, the moon and stars filled the sky._

_"Shit!" Harry shouted. Technically, he'd been at this for over three hours and he still had nothing to work with. Chad interrupted his internal freak out._

_"Dude, calm down. I'm pretty sure dinner's still open and that paper can wait until tomorrow or something. I, on the other hand, am going to shower and promptly pass out while watching tv after being put through R.O.A.R physical conditioning." Chad limped off toward the bathroom leaving Harry at his desk. He knew that he had to get to work, immediately but that didn't mean he couldn't have something to eat first._

After grabbing a quick bite at the cafeteria, Harry had spent the rest of his night working on the paper.

_Why do you feel that you should enter the kingdom political field?_

Personally, Harry couldn't give a goblins ass about politics but the prompt needed answering so he would write down whatever bullshit reason his mind could come up with. It was a long night. The only thing keeping Harry awake was the murmur of the tv and Chad's obnoxious snores. It had crossed his mind more than once to strangle Chad in his sleep but he figured Uma wouldn't take too kindly to him not blending in.

Through a miracle and a half, Harry was somehow able to finish his paper. He even almost got it to two pages...or was it three? He always was bad at math. Harry squinted as he look at the blinding sun as he shot rays through the window. He had been up all night which meant his deadline wasn't tomorrow but today. Jane said that the final time to hand anything in was 6 am. He turned to read the clock that said 5:50. He sprung out his chair and bolted out the door and ran to Fairy Godmother's office. Jane told him that attached to the door was a magical box that held all the final applications that would shut and stay shut at 6 AM. As Harry neared the office, he could see that the box was still open. He hadn't missed his chance. While panting, Harry jogged toward the box and slipped his application and paper in. He collapsed against the door and sat there trying to gather his breath.

He looked at the box and saw that it wasn't closing. There must've been a minute or two left. He got up and gingerly looked inside the box. There was quite a few applications and these were just the ones that Jane didn't have. It was already a long shot for him to win but for him to win against these many students? He didn't have a chance...unless...

The box emitted a golden glow as it started to close shut. In a split second, Harry grabbed a large handful of paper making sure to leave his own at the very top. He watched as the lid finally snapped shut permanently. He tried to test it out and open it with his other hand but the lid was shut air tight. Harry smirked at the pile. Uma did want him to do  _anything_ to get close to Ben. He was pretty sure this fell into that category. Harry tucked the papers into his coat and walked away. Now all he had to do was sit and wait. In all honesty, this was far better for the general public and himself. Especially himself. He really loved to win.

He could be a very sore loser if he didn't. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Getting comments is nice. Getting even more comments is nicer. Hope you enjoyed! This chapter seems so...out of place and so will future other probably but I promise, I have a plan in motion. Also, Lonnie and Ben are my Brotp. OH! I almost forgot. I used a Scottish converter for this chapter, I really hope I didn't offend anyone and if I did I AM SO SORRY.


	10. To The Victor Belong The Spoils

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who won the contest?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAI! LOOK WHO FINALLY UPDATED! Hope you enjoy the story. Tried to make it a long one. My greatest fear is writing out of character, so if I am, will somebody PLEASE tell me? PS. Unbetaed. If there's a mistake please tell me so I can fix it.

When Harry lived on the Isle, contrary to popular belief, he didn't just spend his time with Uma and Gil on the Lost Revenge. He actually had a job. He worked at a little place called 'Hook's Clock & Curiosity Shop.' His father ordered him to work there almost every week.

Goblins, did he hate that shop.

When it was his shift he pretty much did everything from cleaning up to manning the cash register. He'd waste the day away haggling with costumers or re-counting inventory. Devil forbid there was an attempted theft. The stories of the fun he would have with them scared any potential thieves away. Now while the store did sell clocks, it sold other stuff too. Hence the curiosity part in Clock & Curiosity. Any seashells, buttons, fabric, etc, found washed up on the beaches or around the Isle often made their way to the shop. That part wasn't so bad. No, the bad part, the worst part, was the blasted clocks.

There were clocks everywhere. Ceiling, walls, floors, counters. Everywhere. And the constant ticking of the clocks always put Harry on edge. Every time he heard a tick or a tock he got the anxious feeling that there something coming for him.That something was waiting for him. Since he lived on the Isle at the time, he could always assume that thing was something bad. Something very bad. It had gotten to the point where once a week he would systematically destroy a clock that wasn't in obvious display so he wouldn't get caught by his father. The clocks made him impatient. Uneasy. Which was a bad combination for somebody who already had a short temper. And it didn't mean he was going to snap every time he saw or heard a clock. He just  _really_ hated them.

When he was younger, and as he grew up into a teenager, Captain Hook would tell stories about the terrifying Tick-Tock Croc. About how it lurked in the saltwater, watching it's prey with it's reptilian eyes. About how it hid it's large body covered in scales and tail decorated with spikes below the surface. About how sharp his teeth were when he savagely ripped his father's hand off before it swam away. Worse of all, how there would be melody of even tick-tock's before it came. Seven year old Harry was wary of the teeth. Seventeen year old Harry was wary of the tocks because they ticked him off. To this day if his father ever told the story again did he hear the actually words? No, he heard the constant tick tock.

_Tic-Tock._

_Tic-Tock._

_Tic-Tock._

Harry would wake up from nightmares where he was running away from something or to something else. The sound of clocks ringing and haunting him with each step. One day his impatience got the better of him and he snapped. Broke each and every single clock in the shop except one. The little pocket watch his father had given him. The only reason why Harry didn't break it is because it didn't work any more. Coincidentally, that was the same reason his father gave it to him. Speaking of Captain Hook, when he found out what his son did, let's just say that Harry would've rather walked the plank.

Moral of the story is, Harry hates clocks. And he hates waiting even more. Which is precisely is what this contest is making him do.

* * *

Ben was in a chipper mood when he woke up Sunday morning. 

Don't get him wrong, Ben was usually less than happy on Sundays due to the impending school day following but today there was no homework, no king work, no work at all. Just him, his girlfriend and his friends. It was a lazy day. Or at least it was supposed to be.

"King Benjamin, your needed in your office right now." The intercom on his dresser said. Still in bed, Ben whipped around to sleepily look at the intercom. He often wondered why he had it installed in his bedroom and when he would get it removed. He really needed to get to that.

"And why is that Deborah? It's Sunday and I cleared my schedule for today." Dear god, please tell him he didn't accidentally mix up days and today was actually Monday.

"It's not something that was planned your Majesty. It's your parents." Deborah from the intercom explained. Immediately Ben sat up at the sound of the news. He hadn't heard from his parents in over a week and now they were at school, in his office? Contrary to popular belief, Belle and Beast didn't actually live in Auradon Prep. Nor did they live in the fairytale castle from their love story  _Beauty and the Beast._ They used to. All three of them in fact. It was where Ben lived and grew up until he moved to Auradon Prep for his education. His parents still wanted to be close to him so they packed up and moved out and into a nearby castle. Ben's home was still their property but more or less abandoned at the moment. Still, even if his parents lived nearby, why the heck were they at school? And couldn't they come tomorrow? Ben loves them beyond death but he just wanted one day. Just one day off.

"Please tell them to wait. I'll be there momentarily." Ben barley got the words out before he was tumbling out of bed and walking out the door. He went all the way down the hallway before he realized he was still in his white t-shirt and blue boxers.

_I should probably change first._

* * *

 

Ben burst into his office to see his parents awkwardly looking around and talking waiting for him. 

"Mom, Dad, what are you doing here?" Beast and Belle turned around startled at their son's abrupt arrival. More Belle than Beast though. He could hear Ben coming down the hall. Side effects of being cursed he supposed.

"Is that a nice way to talk to your parents first thing in the morning?" Belle awkwardly joked. Ben inwardly curses himself for being so blunt. That's been happening more and more often lately. He never really addressed it thought since deep down he secretly feared that it was connected to his beast gene. Ben's eyes widened at the realization. What if that's why his parents were here? To bring this not-so-secret secret out of the woodwork? He hoped not. Ben snapped himself out of him thoughts as he looked at his parents slightly embarrassed. They were probably waiting for an answer while he drifted off.

"I'm sorry, your right. I apologize. Good morning mom and dad." Ben really wanted to end his sentence there but he was overcome by word vomit, "What are you doing here?" He inwardly winced but it may have come out as a little twitch on his face.

"Straight to business I suppose but it's not surprising considering the matter at hand of course." Beast said. SHIT! It was about the curse. Ben wasn't ready. He was no where near ready, especially not on an early Sunday morning. "May we?" His father gestured over to the couches. Ben nodded, signaling them the ok to sit down. There was an awkward seating positions with Belle and Beast on one couch with Ben diagonally facing them on another. A family divided. Emotionally, and now physically. Ben found it ironically fitting.

"We don't want to take up much of your time son, but as you know since Fairy Godmother told you about the beast gene we had to talk about it eventually." His father explained. Ben had to bite his tongue to keep from retorting that they had to wait over a week to talk.

A week in his head by himself, driving himself crazy with all types of different scenarios of him hurting someone because no one had ever bothered telling him about this beast gene until now and only did because he broke a few rules and they wanted to make sure he wasn't losing it. He, of course, didn't tell anybody about this. Not even Mal. He liked to keep his delusions to himself. Back to the subject matter, his mother seemed to read his mind.

"I know it seems that we were avoiding you and keeping it a secret because we thought you were dangerous but that couldn't be farther from the truth. We just wanted you to settle into your teenage years as smoothly as possible." His mother said. Foot, meet mouth. Something about what Belle just said bothered Ben. Especially the teenage years part. His father seemed to notice too because he was the next one speaking. Was mind reading part of the beast gene? He sure as hell hoped not. That sounded like cool benefit and a scary disadvantage all at the same time.

"It's just that, with you becoming king at such a young age. We wanted to make your transition into the thrown easier for you." Beast tried and failed to explain.

"Easier? You think I would've handled it better when I was eighteen then I am right now? I probably would be worse with the extended period of time of my parents not telling me vital information about myself!" Ben's voice felt foreign to him since he had rarely spoken yet. Maybe he was still a bit drowsy.

"You're still new to the throne! We wanted the least amount of...stuff...on your plate as possible." His mother vented quickly but she seemed to notice her slip of words as she threw her hands up to cover her mouth as if that could've stopped her word vomit.

Too late though.

Ben had already caught on to where his mother unintentionally was going. This is why the earlier 'teenage years' comment bothered him. It didn't fit into place with the story, not until now anyways. Because why else would teenage years be a problem besides puberty and hormones? Ben had a unique factor to him that most teenagers didn't. He was a king. A very young one too. The Boy King, many people called him. One of the youngest, if not the youngest, to ever sit on the throne. Any mistakes, any raging out could've been dismissed as him still being new to the crown but something still didn't make sense. Something still didn't click. This wouldn't be the first time the kingdom had a beast king. His father was literally called King Beast. So what was the problem now? The gears turning in his head and the sudden realization gave Ben a headache and made his ears pound. Beast put on a hand his knee as a comforting gesture he supposed. He wanted to shrug it off but the pounding in his ears took a higher priority.

"We were just trying to make your life easier." Beast solemnly said.

"Well, you didn't." Ben retorted, "In fact, I think you made things worse but I get it. It was a for the good of the kingdom. I can understand that. What I can't understand is why this is such a big deal. We've had a Beast for a king before and the people loved you. What's the problem now?" Ben asked. He wasn't mad. Not really. Just really confused. But even in his confusion he could see the color drain on his mother face and his father bristle, removing his hand from Ben's knee.

_What happened? Did I say the magic word that triggered something?_

"I don't think 'loved' is the word I'd use to describe the peoples' relationship with your father. In fact, it's bit of an exaggeration. Accepted, is more accurate." Belle said darkly. The change in the dynamic of the conversation worried Ben. Maybe this Beast Gene was more serious than he thought.

"Keep in mind that I was only king because of a vote. A vote that to this day, I have no idea how I won. Also, being king of Auradon wasn't the first time I was in power as you well know. Some people are still reeling from the days I was the selfish angry boy king who rotted away in his kingdom. Those people weren't happy I was on the throne again, nor that my descendants would be on it either." Beast explained. In Ben's mind, either his father was worried he was going to blamed for his father's sins or that regardless of them being two completely different people, he would still have to atone for his father's sins. He would still be compared to his father and this new found gene wasn't helping anything.

_Is this what Mal, Carlos, Evie and Jay have to go through? Dear god, how do they do it?_

"But those were the days of Gaston and LeFou." Ben said as he abruptly stood up. Sitting made him restless but then again, so would pacing. So his final decision was to stand in one place. Belle and Beast followed suit.

"And now it's the days of tabloids and gossip. Same viciousness, different format." Belle finished.

The dots finally connected in Ben's head. If what his parent's are saying is true, then the reason they wanted to wait until he was eighteen was so he had experience on the thrown. They knew he was going to freak out regardless of age, that was a given but they could at least control the consequences of him finding out. Or at least try to. When he was eighteen, he would know how to deal with people and political system. Right now, he was still  _learning_ the people and political system. It would've been an organized mess when he was older. Right now, it would just be a mess. Beast and Belle had to find a way to tell the truth without breaking their son and the kingdom in two. Which is precisely how Ben's head felt right now. He started to head for the door but his mother grabbed his wrist to pull him back.

"I know you're scared. I know your freaking out but it's all going to be okay. It's all being handled. We just wanted to tell you so you'd be more vigilant, more careful." Belle comforted. Their son slowly pulled away from them and stepped backwards toward the door.

"I-I know. I-I just need to go right now. G-good day." Ben stuttered out. He could feel his brain short circuiting. It was too much, too early in the morning. So much to process. So little room in his head to process it in. Luckily, his parents seemed to think he'd been put through enough as they didn't try to stop him as he left. Or so he thought.

"Wait Ben." Beast called out as Ben was halfway out the door. He slowly turned to face his father with a questioning look.

"Your mother was onto to something when she said to be more vigilant. Personality shifts may not be the only thing that changes about you. The changes can be physical too." Beast warned. Ben didn't even want to _begin_  to think about the list of possibilities that could mean. He just turned back around and walked out the door, not acknowledging his father's warnings. Yes, he was aware it was rude and not the kingly thing to do but the king wasn't completely there anymore. The king had been split into two conflicting sides.

The boy and the beast.

Not to mention it was still early Sunday morning, his good mood disappeared and school was tomorrow.

Manners be damned.

* * *

Ben wandered into the kitchen to get ice for his head and ears when he ran into his group of friends. The entire gang was there, seemingly making pancakes. Even Dude was there, currently rolling around in an empty bag of flour.

"Hey, what's going on? Why is everybody up so early?" Ben asked, as he greeted Mal with a peck on the lips as she stirred pancake mix. She wasn't big on public affection but around her friends she was completely fine with it.

"Trust me, I didn't plan for it. Jay woke Carlos up because he wanted pancakes but Carlos doesn't know how to make pancakes, correctly at least, so they came to my room and bugged me which woke up Evie. Dude followed  Jay and Carlos to our room and overheard the breakfast part and ran to Jane's room barking about how she promised bacon or something. All of his yipping woke Lonnie up who wanted pancakes too. So I, begrudgingly, started making pancakes with help and you know the rest. It's a good thing your here too, I was just about to go wake you up so you can join us." Mal summarized.

"I'm glad I'm here too." Ben said, headache long forgotten. "Anything I can do to help?'

"...No-Wait...yes. Can you please make sure that Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum are using non-stick cooking spray and not cooking oil again?" Mal asked. Ben dismissed himself with a nod and walk towards the back where Jay and Carlos were arguing yet again about something.

"Mal said she wanted unsalted butter." Jay argued.

"No, she said she wanted salted." Carlos retorted.

"Why would she want salty pancakes? She said unsalted."

"You do realize that salted doesn't actually taste like salt right?"

"Whatever, you're just salty that Mal wants unsalted!" 

"I'm gonna throw salt in your face!" Carlos spat. Ben snickered. As funny as this was, he should probably intervene at some point. Besides, he had a job to do.

"Hey guys! Am I interrupting something?" Ben teased. 

"Nothing. Only that somebody doesn't seem to recognize different butters." Carlos accused, looking pointedly at Jay.

"Yeah, well somebody's about to get butter down their pants" Jay spat back.

"Well did you two somebodies use non-stick cooking spray instead of cooking oil this time?" Ben interrupted, "Mal's worried you didn't."

"You make a mistake one time..." Jay muttered bitterly. Carlos rolled his eyes at him. "Yeah, we did." He answered.

"Then my work here is done." Ben turned to leave but spun around to leave his friends with one final tip. "Hey guys, why don't you just use both?" Ben gestured to the two different butters before leaving the boys with his suggestion only to run into Lonnie, who was holding a rectangular pan.

"Jeez, sorry Lonnie! What's up?" Ben apologized only for Lonnie to brush it off. "Gas prices and it's fine. Didn't leave a scratch. By the way, your never gonna guess who entered the contest." Lonnie hyped.

"Does this mean I don't have to guess?" 

"Nope."

"Fine...Um...Gil?" Ben randomly guessed without much effort. "Close. Harry Hook." Lonnie corrected. Ben choked on his own salvia. "Harry? Are you sure?" He sputtered out.

"Yup, I'm just as surprised as you. Jane told me she found his application at the tippity top of the pile and that he'd even asked her how to apply. And get this, he's in the draw."

"Seriously? He made it into the final pickings?" 

"Yup. His essay must've been made out of something good. Which reminds me, later on in the afternoon you, Jane and myself have gotta head down to Fairy Godmother's office to pick out the name." She reminded only to have him groan. "Nooo, it's supposed a lazy day." He whined. "Oh suck it up. It's pulling a name out of a hat, you'll live." Lonnie bit out. "Never said I'd die. Said it was supposed to be a lazy day." he retorted. Lonnie rolled her eyes, "Come and help me prepare these pans for Mal." The rest of the morning was making different variations of pancakes with Mal and spending the spending the rest of the morning watching re-runs in his room eating said pancakes. It was nice and quiet since the entire school was asleep.

Wasn't a bad morning after all if Ben did say so himself.

* * *

As mid afternoon approached, Ben begrudgingly lifted his head off of Mal's lap and tore himself away from her. They'd all had been sated from the pancakes and were happily watching a show about twins who looked like a blonde Mal. (Even though Mal would heavily disagree) Needless to say, nobody wanted to move. Including him.

"Where you going?" Mal asked as Ben slipped on jacket while handing sweatpants over to Jane and Lonnie who were still in their pajamas.

"Final contest thing to do. If I'm lucky, I'll be back in under half an hour." Ben answered.

"And if you're not lucky?" Mal asked cheekily.

"Save me some pancakes."

"No promises." Ben bid her adieu with a peck on the cheek as three of them left the room.

* * *

There were various students outside of school but not many. Most decided to spend their time in their rooms, recharging after a draining week. Ben couldn't blame them.

"So, did Lonnie tell you about the surprising news about the contest?" Jane asked. He gave his answer with a nod.

"I can't believe he actually entered! I thought he was messing with me but apparently not!" Jane exclaimed.

"First he kidnaps you, then you bring him here, now he's a finalist in contest to be near you. Hmm, sounds like fate to me." Lonnie joked. Ben playfully rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well I wish fate stepped in tomorrow instead of today. C'mon, let's get this over and done with."

In Fairy Godmother's office, the headmistress was waiting patiently for her daughter and friends to arrive when they came in through the door.

"Ah! There you three are! I don't want to keep you long so let's get this show on the road!" She said as she picked up a black top hat that held all the names. "Ben, if you would do the honors."

Ben took a deep breathe before reaching inside the dark abyss that was the hat. He really hoped he picked someone that would get along with everybody.  He wanted this to go as smoothly as possible. After all, this person would be with them until the school year ended, unless they quit or was removed from the program somehow. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that. Ben skimmed his fingertips along the pieces of paper until he found a piece that felt...right. It was stuck on the side of the hat almost hidden by the other pieces of paper. Gingerly, he plucked the name out and read the slip. Ben's eyes gaped and he wouldn't be surprised if his mouth was slightly open too. The girls saw his expression and stepped forward to peek at the name.

"Oh. My. Goodness." Lonnie said surprised.

"Hey Lonnie, you might've been onto something with that whole fate thing." Jane pitched in.

* * *

"Mr. Hook would you please go down to Fairy Godmother's office?"

 _"Oh evil, what'd I do now?"_   Harry thought as he got up from his seat and took the pass from the Scottish teacher who's name escaped him. (Not that he ever really had it.) The better question would've been what  _hadn't_ he done now. He already had scammed his way into a contest and got rid of some of the competition. (Said competition's papers had somehow found it's way off the edge of a bridge...how curious) Still, the entire weekend had been quiet so he couldn't have gotten caught...could he? Blast, now he was going to going into Ms. Bippity's office all paranoid. Speaking of her office, where the Devil is it? Harry had half a mind to think that these Boradorians actually forgot he's only been here a week. By luck, whether it be good or bad, Harry found the headmistress's office.

"Wha-I mean ye wanted to see me?" addressed Harry to Fairy Godmother. He had to keep up appearances, no matter how hard it was to play fake nice. Really hard. He looked around the room to see the girl who was good with a sword-not that he'd ever admit it out loud- Janet, no Jane, and King Beastie. 

_I've really got to get better at names._

Harry eyed Ben who was speaking to the sword girl. He lazily smirked at Ben who was oblivious and relaxed until he felt eyes on him. The moment Ben looked up to see a grinning Harry he turned as red as the Evil Queen's apples, if not redder. Harry's smirk widened at the display, getting off on how such a little action affected the king. 

 _"Doesn't look half bad like that. This might be easier than I thought."_ Harry cheekily thought only for Fairy Godmother to pull him out of it. "I brought you done here because I thought congratulations were in order." Harry gave her a curious look only for it to be answered by Ben who stepped forward to shake his hand. Harry made sure to keep the handshake brief but have his eyes linger on Ben's face. He had to keep things at least  _slightly_ subtle lest he tip off Ben, or worse, Mal and her group of guppies.

"Congratulations! You won the contest!" Ben said as he quickly shook his hand. Harry placed fake surprise on his face to sell the act. "Really? How amazing." He said with fake sincerity as he shook hands with everybody in the room. He watched as sword girl gave a piece of paper to the headmistress and leave with Ben and Jane.

"Since you won, you'll be getting a new class schedule. Unfortunately, you'll be missing some class to help Lonnie with various errands." Fairy Godmother rambled on as she sat down. Harry following.

"Well, I guess that'll be-wait, runnin' errands wit' who?" Harry interrupted.

"Lonnie." Fairy Godmother answered while giving him the same slip of paper sword girl-who's name was apparently Lonnie- gave to her, "You'll be learning under her aid."

Harry cursed under his breathe. He didn't plan for this. Granted, Jane did say that he would shadow either herself, Ben or Lonnie but he never actually came up with a backup plan.

_And tis why Uma be in charge and why ye should tell her yer plans in advance._

Harry slipped a fake sympathetic look on his face. It was going to take quite a lot of bullshitting to get out of this one.

"Ms. headmistress, I be sure lonnie be a lovely poppet but I truly believe that I would grow more as a person under the tutelage of King Ben. I mean he's practically the poster lad fer goodness and wouldn't it be in me best interest, in everybody's best interest, fer me to be with the most good of the good?" He might have been a little dramatic about it but screw it, he was growing desperate. He and his crew had already been here a week with little to no progress. He had to get things moving. 

Fairy Godmother nonchalantly shook her head. "Oh that won't be necessary dear. Lonnie is one of our top students and head ambassadors. I don't doubt that you'll learn a lot from her. Also, I hear you two have a common interest in swords? I believe that you two will get along great. Besides, Ben is very busy. Schoolwork plus king work might be too much for you on your first semester. Maybe try again next year if you win again. " She reassured.

 _"If I follow through on this plan I won't be here next year."_ Harry thought bitterly. This was going south. Fast. He had to do something but there was no time as he watched Fairy Godmother get out of her chair and open her door to let Lonnie in who was apparently waiting outside for them to finish talking.

"I will let you two sort this out amongst yourself." Fairy Godmother excused herself out of the room. After she left, Harry let go of his false persona and let his scowl settle back onto his face only to get a blinding smile in return.

"Hey! I know we had got off on the wrong foot...twice but I'm hoping we can put that all behind us and have a nice year. Now you already have lunch in the afternoon instead of late morning like some students so after lunch you'll just leave and head over to the R.O.A.R practice gym or here where I will meet you." Harry barely listened as Lonnie prattled on, preferring to think of ways on how to get out of this but no such luck. 

"...so does that work for you?" Lonnie asked under the impression he was paying attention. Harry found himself dumbly nodding along to fill the silence. He had no idea what he just agreed to but it sure put an even bigger smile on her face.

"Great! I'll see you tomorrow at the gym after your lunch." Lonnie summarized before leading Harry out of the office and saying goodbye. Harry groaned and rolled his eyes as he watched Lonnie's retreating form. 

_One step forward, two steps back._

* * *

So apparently what Harry had agreed to was to start working with Lonnie with immediately. After a testing conversation with Chad, he had gotten the directions to the R.O.A.R gym and had gone there almost every single day to meet up with Lonnie to do work. Lots and lots of work.

Essentially, he traded schoolwork for paperwork. Go figure.

Actually, that's not entirely accurate either. He still had to do homework along with his paperwork because of Uma's blasted insistence that the three of them continue to fit in for the time being. 

Towards the end of the week, Harry dragged himself down to the gym-which had now become a daily thing- but instead of being blinded by the entire team in their overly bright blue and yellow uniforms, he was surprised to see only Ben and Lonnie sparring on the gym floor. He watched curiously from a distance while leaning against the door frame. They weren't half bad. Harry found himself slightly entertained at the sight of the two attacking and defending with their swords. That is until Lonnie gained the upper hand with a two-step combo and disarmed Ben. Harry felt the need to add to the moment so he slowly walked out of his place slow clapping at the two friends.

"My, my, wasn't that something?" Harry said, relishing the startled look on their faces.

"Oh, hey Harry! Didn't see you there. Me and Ben were just sparring. I'll be ready in a sec." Lonnie greeted and explained before leaving the two boys alone in the room.

"Take your time!" Harry called out as he watched the young king dart his eyes around the entire room but him. He decided to cut the boy a break just this once.

"Nice moves. Something tells me yer on the defense a lot since ye didn't do much attacking." Harry stated.

"I guess you can say that. I've never been too comfortable with attacking." Ben explained. Harry wasn't surprised. "Why ever not? Attacking's half the fun!" He jovially explained while picking up the sword Lonnie left behind. Harry felt a rejuvenated energy hold the sword in his hand. He'd never gone this long without his own and without his hook, it made his withdrawal even worse. Harry took off and tossed his red coat onto the floor. He got into the proper stance in front of Ben, half daring him to challenge him. It almost looked as if the little beast was going to deny it before he slipped off his own jacket and joined him in the stance. The fight was short and sweet. A flurry of metal against metal. The two of them barely moved two feet before Harry disarmed Ben.

"Not bad. Not good but not bad either." Harry critiqued, still high off the short sparring. It had been so long and while it wasn't the same as an actual fight, it was close enough. Ben seemed to finally relax around the pirate or maybe he was too tired from sparring Lonnie and now Harry to be so tense. But he was completely at ease when he spoke now.

"Oh. Since your such an expert do you have any tips?" Ben joked. Harry felt a lightbulb go off in his head from Ben's question. 

"I've got a better idea. Why not instead of me giving ye quick tips, I jus' teach ye?" Harry offered. Ben's eyebrows rose in surprise and confusion. "Why would you do that? And don't you have enough on your plate already?" Harry shrugged off his concern while putting his coat back on. "I don't know if ye noticed but I'm a pirate. Sword fighting is kind of wha' I do. 'N while it might be too much for me to do at the moment. I reckon we can think of a way fer it to not be to much." He teased.

"How so?"

"I go under yer wing instead of Lonnie which will free me up to take ye under me wings about sword fighting." Harry didn't think it was possible for Ben's eyes to get any bigger but sure enough, they did.

"Why my wing? Why not Lonnie's?"

"Look, I be sure Lonnie's a lovely lass but I also be sure that ye and me have some...tensions to smooth out."

"You think?"

"So let me right my wrongs and do this fer ye. And the only efficient way to do that be if I worked under yer time and not hers."

"Why do you want to teach me anyways?"

"Because tis be beneficial to us both Beastie Boy. I've seen the effects of a fight and yer one of the few who actually come out better then when they went in. Regardless of how the fight went. I dunno wha's on yer mind but this", Harry gestured around the room and to the swords, "be one of the few, if not the only thing makin' ye feel better. Ain't it?" Ben blushed as a reply under the blatant stare from Harry. Looks like he hit the nail on the head. To ease the tension out of the room Harry says, "As fer me, like I said afore I'm a pirate. Sword fighting's kind of what to do not to mention tis kind of in my blood. I need it in my life." He hadn't meant to reveal that last part but that last slip seemed to convince Ben to make a final decision.

"Okay. Sword lessons in exchange for you working with me instead of Lonnie." Harry grinned maniacally before grabbing a handkerchief out of his red coat.

"Shall we make it official?" He asked. Ben nodded in response.

"Good 'cause yer attacks are terrible." Harry joked to get back some normalcy while earning a slight glare from Ben. "I hope that handkerchief is clean." He fired back while shaking the pirates' hand. Harry looked at him in gleeful surprised from the little jab. This might be more fun than he thought.

Uma's words from before on the Isle rang through Harry's head.  _"Auradon's never gonna see us coming."_

A grin grew on his face as he shook Ben's hand.

_No it would not._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm greedy for comments and I'm not ashamed to admit it.  
> There's a good chance that I'm going to be put in a circumstance where I won't be with my laptop for around a month...I really hope it doesn't happen but it might so if this isn't updated or I don't delete this end note then I guess I have my answer. And if that's the case then I will be back sometime in early December. Happy SUPER early Thanksgiving (if you celebrate it) since I won't be able to say it the day of.


	11. New Different People, Same Old Ways

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You didn't think I forgot about Uma, Gil and the plan did you? They certainly didn't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the kudos! FINALLY UPDATING! Time to get shite rolling.

"WHAT?" all four VK's shouted in unison.

Ben winced at their tone. While he knew that his friends wouldn't have the best reaction, he knew that they would be understanding in the end...right?

"Guys, I know you're freaking out a little right now but it's not that big of a deal." Ben tried to play it off only to get cut off by Evie.

"Not that big a deal? Have you forgotten what him and his crew did to you?"

"If you need a reminder, for starters he kidnapped you." Jay started only for Carlos to finish.

"He threatened to hook you."

"The girl he worships put a spell on you." Evie added. 

"Okay, guys, I know, I was there. By the way, I'm not entirely sure it's completely fair for you guys to call out Uma casting a spell when you..." Ben paused in the middle of his sentence to turn his attention towards Mal who was leaning against Evie's bed, seemingly in deep thought.

"Hey," Hey called out to get her attention, "Are you okay?" he asked worriedly. Mal slowly looked up and stared at him as the other three turned around to face her.

"Yeah, why are you so calm?" Jay asked, "Thought you would've sprouted scales by now." He tried to joke to ease the tension out of Mal only to get a blank stare back.

"You guys mind giving me and Ben the room for a moment." Mal asked more in the phrase of a demand than a question. Evie, Carlos and Jay eyebrows furrowed but the two boys complied with her wishes while Evie stood her ground.

"We should all talk about this together." She insisted. Mal gave her a small smile. "And we will. Consider this a boyfriend-girlfriend thing. Speaking of which, I'm sure Doug is missing the hell out of you with all the time he's been spending with Gil. As charming as I'm sure he is, I don't think he rocks your curves and the color blue quite like you do." Mal's joke elicited a small but playful scoff from Evie.

"Yeah, I guess your right." Evie conceded but turned her eyes back to Ben before she left, "We're not done here." She said protectively before leaving. Ben smiled at his friends antics before returning his attention back to Mal. 

"Hey, what's wrong? Are you okay?" He asked while holding the sides of both her arms.

"Something's not right." Mal muttered, more to herself than to Ben. He shook his head in confusion. "What do you mean?" Mal tore herself away from his grip and started pacing a little.

"You don't think it's slightly suspicious that after everything that went down last time suddenly Harry Hook's all up and ready to give you free sword lessons? And Uma's supposed to okay with that? The tides can change pretty fast but not  _that_ fast."

"Maybe they're more mature than you think. Maybe they've gotten over it since they've finally gotten off the Isle." Ben said hopefully. Mal shook her head. "Nope, feels like something fishy going on."

Ben walked up and grabbed her by the sides again. "Was that supposed to be a pirate joke?" He smiled down at her only to then cup her face "I promise that it's all gonna work out one way or the other. I truly think they just need someone to have faith in them. It worked with you didn't it?"

"That's different, I'm not them."

"No your not. Your significantly much more purple and smaller." He joked only to get a punch in the arm by Mal who had a much lighter demeanor now.

"Hey, watch it before I revoke your pancake privileges." Mal teasingly threatened. Ben played along. "Oh no. You can't do that to me. I'm officially addicted to your chocolate chip pancakes."

"I do have the magic touch."

"That's one way to put it." Mal punched him on the arm again but Ben didn't take it personally considering there was a full blown grin on her face. "So are we good? Are you going to trust me?"

"Of course we're good and of course I trust you it's just them I don't trust." Mal admitted, "Sharks don't suddenly become guppies."

"Considering we all live in Auradon now, that might actually happen. Besides, I got a talk from my parents about the beast gene, at least a little bit. If any of them tries to do anything there's a chance I might actually start foaming at the mouth." Ben enjoyed the wide eyed look from Mal. It was hard catching her off guard and he loved the little moments that he could. "I'll explain later. I'm just happy we have this out in the open."

"Okay. But one last thing. I really need you to heed my words on being careful about who you trust." Mal warned.

"I'm not giving Harry unrestricted access to the crown, he's just teaching me how to not shish-kabob myself." 

"It's not just them you should be wary of trusting. Sometimes it can be yourself. Path to hell paved with good intentions and what not." 

"You know, Fairy Godmother said something eerily similar." Ben recalled.

"What can I say? Great fairy minds think alike."

* * *

"So what's this I hear about you following Beasty Boy now?" Uma asked.

She had arranged another meet up in their little hideout. It was a bit of a pain for Harry to come here when he was swamped with homework and king work. Not to mention the work that was Chad being his roommate. Luckily, he had managed to slip away and avoid Chad's questions. For now at least.

"Followin's such a needy word. 'Tis no big deal really. Long tale short: boarded a contest to spend time wit' Beastie 'n gain his trust. I literally jus' got the news yesterday, how'd ye find out?" Harry answered and asked. Gossip spreads but it can't spread that fast.

"Turns out my roomie and that girl Cruella's son is going out with are kind of close. All it took was a  little eavesdropping on my part." She answered nonchalantly with a bit of a smirk only to move the topic along. "Okay, so your working with Beastie Boy, how's that working out so far?"

"I got him to agree to private cutlass lessons wit' me. 'Tis no master seduction but it should get him comfortable enough to be around me." Harry answered proudly, happy to see Uma more pleased than last time only for doubt to cover her face.

"Sword lessons? Don't you think that's a little counter-productive?" Uma asked. Harry waved off her concerns. "No amount of teachin' from me could ever make him beat us."

"Didn't he beat us last time?" Gil asked bluntly, leaning against a large rock. Uma glared at him.

"We were distracted and he had help." Harry snapped.

"Never mind what happened last time," Uma spoke out, "What matters is what happens this time." She turned towards Harry. "What's your schedule look like for tomorrow?"

"School, sword lessons, homework." He answered easily. Uma turned towards Gil. "And you?"

"School, Doug helping me with homework." Gil responded. Uma clapped her hands together, "I've got a few clubs that I've gotta wrangle myself out of for the day. Gil, did you ever learn Doug's schedule?"

"Most of it." He answered.

"Where's he gonna be tomorrow night?"

"Well after school he has band rehearsals but I think he said he's coming to the room later than usual because he's going to Evie's room to help her with her designs or something." Gil tried to recall the memory of Doug telling him that earlier today. Specifically telling Gil that the 3D movies were fake and that he couldn't punch the tv again."Yeah, I'm pretty sure." 

"And with Beasty Boy? What's he doing?" Uma asked Harry. He shrugged, "Prolly more meetin's or somethin'. He's got quite a lot of those."

"That's good. Blow off your homework for tomorrow boys and meet me in front of the former king's statue in front of the school at nightfall." She took a dramatic pause to look at the two of them.

"I've got something I really want to show you."

* * *

When the school day finally ended and Harry went to the R.O.A.R gym to meet up with Beastie for his first sword lesson (from Harry at least) he couldn't help but wonder how that would work out. He's only been here a couple of weeks but he was under the assumption that the R.O.A.R team practiced in the R.O.A.R gym at the exact same time he was supposed to meet up with Ben. It was a pretty big team and unless Ben had some king privileges that he wasn't telling him about then Harry had no idea where they would practice. Nevertheless, he walked on.

As Harry entered the gym, the entire team appeared to be doing running drills around the room. Lazily scanning the room, Harry searched for Ben but instead finds his, now sweaty, roommate.

"Hey...Harry." Chad panted out after running towards him. He puts his hands on his knees as he crouched over, struggling to breathe. "What...are you...doing here?"

"I...be lookin'...fer Ben." Harry mimicked, finding Chad's exhausted state more comical than not.

 _Hey, this is an improvement to_   _his_ _usual state._

"Wha's wrong with ye?" Harry asked to fill in the awkward pauses between Chad's pants. "Other than the obvious of course."

"I...don't think..ye would appreciate that." Chad responded, his voice regulating itself.

"I think ye would." Harry played along. Though he wasn't sure if Chad thought this was a game or not.

"I, on the other hand, was just doing suicides and man do they live up to their namesake." Chad explained. "Wait, did you say you were looking for Ben?"

"Yup."

"Think Lonnie might know. Ben was in here right before practice to talk to her. He barely gave me a hi." Chad whined while Harry rolled his eyes.

"Where's Lonnie?" Chad pointed to the middle of the circle where Lonnie was guiding and running with the other teammates. "LONNIE!" Chad called out and gestured to Harry. Lonnie waved as she made her way over.

"Hey guys. What's up? Chad, you haven't finished your suicides yet." Lonnie pointed out. Chad let out a groan before leaving the two for more running. Lonnie turned to Harry. "You need something?" If Lonnie was upset that Harry traded her for Ben, she didn't show it. In fact, she even seemed kind of pleased by it.  _"Weird."_ Harry thought.

"Ye know where Ben is?" He asked.

"Yeah, he was in here earlier and asked me to send on some directions to you. By any chance do you know where the old bridge is?" She asked and he responded with a nod. "Great! He said that he's literally right at the other end waiting for you. Said something about finding the right training spot."

"Right, of course. Bye Lonnie." Harry turned to leave but Lonnie called out to him. "You're welcome by the way." He turned to see her smirking, a little glint teasing in her eyes. It was that more than the information she gave that compelled Harry respond.

"Thank ye." He said, slight tilt of the head. Lonnie watched as he walked away before returning her attention back to the team.

"KEEP IT UP BOYS! NICE JOB JAY! CHAD, I DON'T SEE YOU RUNNING!"

* * *

 As Harry made his way through the forest and eventually to the bridge, he saw the king himself leaning against the bridge post on the opposite side, still wearing his usual royal attire.

"Don't ye ever change?" Harry asked from the middle of the bridge.

"Says the one who's always donning his red leather jacket." Ben replied back. Harry smirked, "Aye, ye noticed. Have ye been checkin' me out beastie?" His teasing was responded to by a prompt blush growing on Ben's face.

"Relax Beastie. Only kiddin'." He said once he reached Ben. "So is there a reason why ye dragged me out to the middle of the forest like Snow White 'n the Seven Dwarves?"

"Well it's not to slip you a poison apple or whistle while we work. I found a great spot for us to practice for the time being." Ben answered.

"I don't needs practice but ye do...severely." 

"Do you wanna stand here insulting me or do you want to get to the spot?" Been asked wryly.

"Lucky fer ye, I can multitask." Harry whipped backed. Ben rolled his eyes before leading the way. And if Harry whistled "Whistle While You Work", well no one could prove it.

* * *

"Here we are!" Ben announced as he gestured to the open green land around them. They were up rather high on some type of mini mountain. 

" 'N where be here?" Harry questioned as he looked around, spying a bag of swords laying on the ground.

"We are practically right above the Enchanted Lake." Ben answered as he gestured Harry to the side of the cliff where the lake lay diagonally below them.

"Is that why I heard a bloody waterfall durin' the entire hike up here?" 

"Probably. And look, if the day is bright enough and the trees aren't blowing, you can kind of see the isle from here." He said as he pointed to the dark cloud that always hung above the Isle in contrast to whatever the weather was outside.

Harry tuned Ben out as he looked around his surroundings. This place wasn't too far from his meet up spot with Uma and Gil. He tried to not focus on how paranoid that made him. He had to prioritize for the moment. And right now, the priority was Ben.

"So, shall we begin?" He asked as he picked up a sword to toss to Ben and one for himself.

"Sure. Where do we start?" Ben asked while slowly twirling his sword at the hilt.

"Well, since I have no idea how ye Auradorians do things, I'll prolly start from the basics. Things like proper stance, En garde, attack 'n defense. Although prolly more attack fer ye 'n from there I'll just wing it." Harry explained, swishing his temporary sword through the air in an effort to get familiar with it.

"Wing it? That sounds comforting." Ben said sarcastically only for Harry to smirk and get into proper stance.

"Aye, good thing I'm here to teach not comfort. Now would you get into position?"

* * *

The four VK's laughed as they left the R.O.A.R gym. Evie and Mal had gotten bored in their rooms so they went to pick up Jay and Carlos from practice. They had invited Lonnie along but she insisted that the Captain left last to make sure that nobody forget anything.

"So he goes down and lands in a full blown split and even I can admit that Chad's pretty athletic and even flexible...to an extent. And that's only when he stretches. Which he didn't. So when Chad went down-he went down hard." Jay cackled, constantly pausing his story to laugh. The rest of them joined in. Enjoying some good old fashion teasing. The jokes and story times continued while they walked past the fields and onto the school walkways to get to their dorms. The four of them were still laughing until Mal's laugh died down. Her other three friends caught Mal looking around the school grounds.

"Everything ok M?" Evie asked. The rest of them had stopped to check on their friend.

"Yeah, fine." Mal said absentmindedly, "It's just...do you guys feel like we're being watched?" Carlos and Jay snorted. "That's an understatement." Jay said.

"Mal, we're some of the few villain kids on school premises...and in Auradon. We're always being looked at." Carlos answered. Mal shook her head. "No, it's not just that this time." Evie put her hands on each of Mal's shoulders as a sign of comfort. "I'm sure it's nothing. Probably just Audrey glaring extra hard from a distance." Mal didn't respond but she did start to walk again as if giving her friends the signal to move on. The other three went back to walking in laughing while Mal had a distant air about her.

_I just can't shake this feeling._

* * *

Harry Hook was a surprisingly good teacher.

And he was patient too.

For the past few hours Ben and Harry had sparred on and off. Only stopping when one of them was disarmed. (Usually Ben) At that point Harry would point out what he did wrong and showed the steps he could take in order to prevent it. Harry wasted no time using sword terms that he knew would go completely over Ben's head. The only way he learned it was for Harry to kick his butt doing it.

Stance, lunge and perry, defense, attack, disarmed. Repeat.

Stance, lunge and perry, defense, attack, disarmed. Repeat. 

On one hand, Ben was immensely glad he was learning new tricks of the trade when it came to sword fighting. He had no idea he'd forgotten so much when he left the R.O.A.R team for his royal responsibilities. On the other hand, his pride could only take so many ways of finding different ways at failing at the same thing. He was also glad that aside from the few jokes here and there, Harry never mocked him for his mistakes. Preferring to correct him rather than insult him.

After countless times of being disarmed, though Ben could proudly say it took a little longer to disarm him each time, the sight of the sky turning pink told him that he should call it a day.

"Woo! What a workout! Haven't sweat like this in ages." Ben said, grabbing a water bottle from the bag and tossed one to Harry. Harry, who gave a small grin and raised an eyebrow.

 _There are much more fun ways to make you sweat._ He let out a low chuckle, and figured he should keep that comment to himself. He can't move too fast lest he scare off the king.

"Yeah," Harry agreed as he took Ben's sword, "Not bad fer someone who got captured in the point two seconds he was on the isle." 

"Hey! It was my first time there and you and your little helpers were quite literally waiting in the shadows for me. Besides, I think did pretty well during the pirate ship battle." Ben said, watching Harry put the two swords away.

"Ye had help. Lots of it." Harry rebutted. Ben didn't miss a beat. "Which is precisely why you're helping me."

"Help is a tricky word."

"But the right one." Ben said, picking up the sword bag, "Now lets go. I think both of us would prefer to get back to our rooms before dark."

* * *

"How's the new king work treating you?" Ben asked.

They had made their way down the mountain and were approaching the bridge. The two of them decided to alternate who held the bag. It was Harry's turn now.

"Don't ask me about the work. The work be worse than swabbin' the deck." Harry groaned. Ben laughed in understanding.

"Yeah I get it but be grateful, you have the very toned down version of my job."

"Don't know how ye do it." Harry muttered as they said as they stepped onto the bridge.

"I do it because I love it." Harry's eyebrows raised in suspicious surprise. "Ye heard that?"

"Was I not supposed to?"

"Most wouldn't."

"Well I'm not most people."

 _"No ye certainly are not."_ Harry thought. He hadn't missed the way Ben had easily come to relax around him. Even willing to indulge his jokes and teases. He didn't know how he felt about that. On the one hand, he wondered how well Ben's sanity mighty be since he was trying to get along with his one-time kidnapper. On the other hand, he didn't hate it. All for the good of the plan he supposed.

"Belay that, ye like paperwork?" Harry asked in an attempt to fill the unintentional silence he made. Ben took the bait.

"No, I don't like the physical paperwork but I like being in a position that could potentially help people. And not just one or two but countless people. And if killing trees to make hundreds of paperwork that I get on a daily basis means that I can help, then so be it." Ben declared.

"Aw, King Beastie is a puppy deep down."

"Not that deep. Everybody has something they naturally gravitate towards. Like you and your sword fighting. I've seen you, the sword is like an extension of you." Ben complimented. Harry snorted. "Ye watchin' me again Beastie? I thought we talked about this." Ben gave a short laugh before punching Harry in the arm. "C'mon, I'm serious. How'd you get so good?"

"Me dad." Harry answered honestly, "He taught me everythin' I know 'n then some. If I didn't get it right...well he made sure I got it right. Wasn't the most patient man, that Captain Hook."

"I'm sorry." Ben apologized, eyes full of remorse. He had a tendency to wear his emotions on his face and heart on his sleeve. Harry could tell. Yet, that didn't stop him from raising a curious eyebrow. "Why? Ye didn' do anythin'."

"That's why I'm sorry."

Oh evilness, this conversation was getting too deep too fast. He had to steer the topic onto smoother waters fast. "Yeah, but now ye've got the best cutlass teacher around."

"Do I now? You've got to teach me some of that pirate talk one day."

"I dunno, I kinda like seein' ye fumble around tryin' to decipher wha' I mean."

"Fair but I still have one more question." Ben said, trying not to strike a cord with his companion.

Harry groaned "Dear Devil, wha' be it?"

"Why a hook?" The question threw Harry for a bit of loop since he hadn't expected it. He thought it would be something like, 'How did your dad make you learn' even though he wouldn't answer that. He wouldn't answer this either, not really. Still, it was unexpected.

"I'm sorry. You don't have to tell me. I didn't mean-" Harry cut Ben off with a wave of his hand. "Reasons. One of them bein' I had enough sense to not go around with a cutlass in my hand."

"I'm sorry Fairy Godmother took your hook. I can tell it was, it is, important to you." Harry rolled his eyes. "If ye apologize to me one more time, I be throwin' ye off this bridge." He saw a mischievous glint appear in Ben's eyes.

"Sorry."

Not one to go back on his vows Harry stopped walking in the middle of the bridge, grabbed each side of the rope and viciously shook the bridge, almost making Ben lose his balance.

"Don't say I didn't warn ye." Harry teased, expecting this to be the end of it but Ben didn't give up so easily. "I'm still on the bridge though." Harry responded by shaking the bridge even harder, effectively making Ben fall on his back. Harry laughed as he walked over to him and offered him a hand.

"Come on, get up. Last thin' I needs be fer someone to think I'm trying to end ye...again." Ben grabbed Harry's hand and the two began to walk again, if not a little bit faster.

"I don't think people would think that." Ben ignored Harry's snort, "But on the topic of people, how are you liking it here?"

"Wha' does that have to do wit' people?" Harry inquired, smart ass nature coming into play.

"Just answer the question."

"Too damn sunny. Doesn't this place have any clouds?" Ben laughed, "I think you'll grow to like the sunny weather and Auradon and even the people. To some extent at least. What do you think?" Ben looked curiously over at Harry, waiting for him to answer his question. Harry sighed as they finally stepped off the bridge and returned Ben's gaze.

"I think it's yer turn to carry the bag."

* * *

When Harry walked into his dorm room after a long day sword fighting and walking, the last thing he expected to see was his roommate squatting on the bed hold a bag of ice to his groin while watching television.

Chad's head snapped towards Harry when he heard the door close. "Don't ask me about ye or myself. Please." Chad begged. Harry raised his hands up in fake surrender and shook his head. "Wasn't planning to."

Whatever was going on, it had to be pretty bad if Chad didn't want to talk about himself or the mysterious 'ye'. Harry had originally planned to come to his dorm room to get some of his homework and king work out of the way but seeing Chad in that current position made him forget the idea entirely.

"Be back later." Harry said as he left with the sight of Chad clutching his crotch forever burned into his mind.

_How did I end up wit' such a weird roommate?_

* * *

By the time Harry and Ben had gotten back to school, nighttime had already fallen. After he left Chad's room Harry went straight to the beast statue to wait for Uma and Gil. Luckily for him, most of the students were actually following curfew and tucked away inside. Harry leered at the prospect of getting caught. Foreign lands, same attitude.

It's harder for him to contact his mates. No phone and all. Maybe he should talk to Ben about it. Convince him of it being a conciliation prize for Harry being his teacher and practically another assistant. (Even though the boy already had like three of them.) He must've drifted off into his thoughts because he barely noticed Uma come out and tap his shoulder from behind him. He didn't flinch from sheer will power alone.

"Good, you're here." Uma said. Gil was behind him, obnoxiously chewing on something. Based off the fact that he didn't swallow, Harry figured it was gum. Then again, sometimes Gil just forgot to swallow in general.

"Where else would I be?" Harry answered suavely. He did have a bit of a flirting problem but Uma quickly caught on earlier on to pay him no mind even though it spoiled a bit of his fun. 

"Hopefully charming that deliciously gullible king of ours." Uma answered.

"Workin' on it."

"You better be. Anyways, like I said earlier, I've got something to show you too." Uma finished the conversation by turning around to lead the boys to an unknown location.

 _The adventures just aren't  stoppin' today are they?_  

* * *

After Devil knows how long of walking. Uma led them to what look like an very familiar fancy church. Uma said that it was a cathedral, where Ben was crowned king. Which explains the familiarity. If Harry concentrated hard enough, he could still feel the boiling rage he felt when he watched Mal and her friends choose good over them, over the Isle. Not that he ever let that anger go. Betrayal was a real sore spot for him. Ironic considering what the three of them had in store for Auradon.

Uma had also stated that the interesting part wasn't what was inside the cathedral but  _beneath_ it.

"I was here earlier with a club from school. It was kind of like a weird tour thing. I made sure to leave the door open when we left." Uma explained as they all walked in. The three of the looked around. A vast room with stained glass windows shining with moonlight. It was quite the view.

"Boys!" Uma's shout snapped the boys out of their reverie. It also made Gil swallow his gum in surprise. Harry grimaced. 

"Let's go."

Down a staircase that Harry didn't even know existed, Uma brought them to what looked like an basement library. And from the looks of it, the place was practically abandoned. Dust covered every surface but that seemed to be the worst of it. Harry internally shrugged. He's seen worse. Much worse.

Oddly enough, Harry only raised an eyebrow while he watched Uma go over to a wall with a tall book shelf only to tug on a red one. Nothing happened...for about three seconds before the book shelf shifted and moved out of the way to reveal a dark stairway.

Harry's eyebrows raised in surprise, "Okay...didn' see that comin'." He turned to see the gum fall out of Gil's mouth. Harry grimaced again. He thought Gil swallowed that.

"Come on." Uma baited, "It only gets better."

* * *

 

Downstairs was cold and murky. The air was thin due to them being underground, still breathable but slightly uncomfortable. Ironically enough, the fact comforted Harry. He was used to uncomfortable. A master at it in fact.

It was practically impossible to see with there being no light and the makeshift doorway closing. Uma had brought a flashlight (where she kept it and pulled it out, he had no idea) Based off what he could see with the dim light, dirt, mold, moss and dust clung every possible surface the human eye could see. It was definitely worse than the library. Every step squeaked with sludge. Bugs scaled the walls while small rodents scurried across the floor, both alarmed by new visitors. Cobwebs strewn lazily in every corner and above their heads on the ceilings. A part of Harry was surprised. For a country claiming to be perfect, this place was far from it. Probably part of the reason why it was closed off to the public. That and somebody could get trapped inside and die.

The twists and turns were the worst part. Every turn Harry made seemed to lead him to five new hallways. The place was endless. He had no idea how Uma even knew where she was going. The only sound that could be heard was their footsteps and Gil's chewing.

_When did he even get more gum?_

After walking around in silence, Harry finally decided to break it.

"I love dank underground places as much as th' next scallywag but where are we goin?"

"I'll give you a hint." Uma said without turning around. She waved her flashlight to the left and right. At first glance, it was easy to miss but as Uma kept waving the flashlight Harry saw it. Small skull pieces and bone fragments were scattered around the floor and some clung to the wall.

"Catacombs."

"Exactly. One of them at least. I don't know the full story but I do know that their might be another opening to this place. And that this particular catacomb is rather special." Harry rolled his eyes at Uma's obvious power play to make him ask why. It felt tedious but he'd indulge her anyways. It's not like Gil was going to ask anytime soon. "Why?"

"The mini tour I went on was more useful than I thought. While everybody was bunking off their studies on their phones, I was listening. This place is old. Really old. Was here before King Beasty boy's father was even a prince. Apparently it belonged to medical maesters. They were the people-"

"-Who treated the sick and mentally unwell. They were kind of like doctors but medieval wise. Only problem was it was kind of hard to diagnose some people and keep track of all the sick. With permission from the king, the maesters locked away those they thought was too sick or too insane. But then more and more people kept getting locked up and they ran out of room above ground so they sent the sick down here. Which brought up a new problem because the catacombs were already being used as a prison of some sorts for those the royal court believed to be the most dangerous of the evil ones. If you got sentenced down here, it was highly unlikely you'd ever see the light of day again. A lot of people died down here. Probably even some of the maesters themselves." Gil finished with a blissed out look. Harry just stared at him. Even Uma stopped walking and turned around to gawk at him. More curious than upset that he interrupted her.

"How'd you know that?" Uma asked.

"Studying with Doug." Gil answered before blowing a bubble. That gum was really starting to get on his nerves. _"What subjects are you studying anyway?"_ Harry thought. Uma raised an eyebrow before rolling her eyes and walking again.

"Gil's right. And those makeshift prisons are exactly where we're going."

"Well how much farther be it?" Harry asked. Skulking through catacombs isn't what he wanted to do with his night. Then again, the alternative was watching Chad deal with his crotch problems. This might've been the less scarring choice.

"Oh, I think we're here." Uma directed her flashlight to the end of the hallway where it looked like there was a vast empty clearing. Uma eyed a torch on the wall and handed the flashlight to Gil. She quickly dragged the tip of it against the wall only to see it flare up in flames.

"Damn, wish I'd done that earlier." Uma admitted.

"Me too." Harry muttered. With the much better lighting. The vast clearing revealed itself to be one of the prison rooms Gil was talking about. The room wasn't as empty as he thought. There was rusty bars for separate prisons in the area. There were even chains lying around in some of the empty cages. Gil and Harry were astonished, Uma was filled with glee. Harry watched on as she hung the torch onto a nearby post and joyously picked up an pair of old rusted chains.

Uma put the old chains around one of Gil's wrist to see if it worked, to Gil's relief, it didn't. Harry forced himself to snap out of it. "As much fun as this show 'n tell has been, I still don't see wha' we be doin' here." 

Uma gave him a grin full of malice and pride. "Let's just say that this place will be instrumental in the hopefully nearby future."

Harry watched as Gil and Uma looked around the cages and explored for more. Eventually he looked around too and let his mind drift off.

What exactly was Uma up too? While he knew the details of the plan, this was certainly new. What they were planning was already risky but this is a whole other level. Harry wasn't scared, not in the slightest. More scientifically curious. How far was Uma willing to go? Based off her vague answer, he guessed she had something very special in mind. It irked him that he didn't know. How could he play and win Uma's game if he didn't know which rules to twist? He also briefly wondered if Ben knew about this place. You can't have a coronation in place with a secret medieval underground torture prison without knowing about it. Even Ben couldn't be that naive or slow.

Harry looked back to his Captain and mate. Playing games was nothing new. In fact, a part of him was excited at the prospect of a fun new pastime. But the rest of him was suspicious. It was new territory with new rules and Uma held all the pieces. He kind of hated it.

Because for the first time since he met Uma, he had no idea what move she was going to make next.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's gonna take time for Ben to fall out of love with Mal and into...something with Harry. But not as much time as you think. Likewise for Harry. There are probably some mistakes in there so please tell me if you find some so I can fix it. I wanna bang another chapter before christmas but we'll see.


	12. When Your "Friends" Are Your Enemies And Their Enemies Are Your Friends But Your Enemies And Friends Might Become...Frenemies?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Separation makes the heart grow fonder...or bitter depending on the person.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kid you not when I say that one comment (about anything really) inspires like three chapters....ENJOY!  
> P.S. Read the end note...might help you understand this chapter.

Chad doesn't wear pants.

It's quite a bother.

Obviously whenever Chad left the room he had enough decency and sense to slip on a pair, but inside their dorm room pants simply do not exist...most of the time at least. It's not like it really bothers Harry, he's seen the human body more than most and can happily boast about his own but he really rather not have the first thing he sees in the morning to be Chad's bare legs and him adjusting his crotch.

"Oh, fer crying out loud." Harry mumbled while turning to face the ceiling. Of course the first thing he sees when he wakes up is Chad's rear in his face. And per usual, no pants.

"It's too early for this. What are ye even doing?" Harry mumbled into his hands trying to wipe the sleep from his eyes. Along with yet another image of Chad's butt.

"No ye, just me and I dropped my piece of floss." Chad answered, scouring the floor. 

"Just get new floss!"

"I can't! That was my last piece and I need to get more. It takes effort to look this devilishly good." Harry turned his head and raised an eyebrow at him. "Was that supposed to be a joke?" Chad whipped around to offer an apologetic, slightly scared smile. "What answer would keep me from getting hooked?"

"Does it look like I have my hook on me?"

"I feel like you'd get creative." Harry gave an appreciative hum before sitting up in bed. "What time be it? I gotta meet Ben." He asked while leaning away from the sunlight in his face. He'd seen  a lot of Ben over the past week, almost everyday. Ben was improving and Harry gave himself a metaphorical pat on the back for being such a good swords teacher. Besides, he felt a little bubble of pride knowing that he saw the boy king almost as much as Mal did.

"It's eleven but don't bother going to Ben. He already texted me since you don't have a phone and he didn't know how to contact you on short notice. He said today's basically your day off since he's spending the day with Mal and Jay and Carlos and Evie and blah blah blah. By the way, we really gotta get you a phone." Chad answered, resuming his search for the missing floss.

Harry groaned, massaging his temple and still rubbing sleep from his eyes.  _"So much for wooing the king today."_ Harry thought. He cursed under his breath. The basis of his "flirtation" with Ben was heavily reliant on the fact that Ben would prefer to spend time with him instead of Mal. But because this is Sunnytown USA, of course Ben wanted to hang out with his actual girlfriend and his actual friends.

_Couldn't those two have a dysfunctional relationship like everybody else on the Isle?_

"So what do you want to do today?"

Harry snapped a look at Chad. "What?"

"I said, what do you want to do today? You don't have anything to do right? So let's hang out!" Chad replied.

"Pass." Harry said, stone cold. He may not be spending time with Ben today but he sure as hell wasn't spending time with Chad. What kind of trade was that? He'd rather be the missing floss.

"Oh come on! Please?" Chad begged. Harry thought he looked rather unbecoming like this but let him continue. "Don't ye have other friends?"

"I bet ye does but all my friends are either busy or on vacation. And if you think I'm going to spend the day with mice you're sorely mistaken."

"Speaking of sore, how's yer crotch?" Harry bluntly asked, hoping to throw him off track. Chad quickly covered his lower area with his hands and shook his head. "Not cool man."

"What's not cool is me having to see ye not wearing pants almost everyday." Harry grunted as he got out of bed and headed towards the bathroom.

"Ye doesn't wear pants too?" Chad questioned only for Harry to roll his eyes. "If you don't hang out with me, I'll stop wearing underwear around you all together." Chad threatened. Harry turned his head away the bathroom door and shot Chad a death glare icier than the devil.

"Parlay?" Chad whimpered, realizing his mistake.

"Wrong pirates." Harry growled. Not really, there was  _technically_ parlay but not in the way Chad was thinking of, not entirely. Plus scared Chad was better than chatty Chad. Then again, the boy never did shut up.

"Okay, I'm sorry. Please don't kill me. I'm too young and handsome to die! I'm desperate." Chad's hands were up in fake (though probably real) surrender.

"Clearly." Harry deadpanned, "But fine, I'll go with ye. Just keep yer pants on."

"Is ye coming to? Great! I wanna meet them. Do you think ye would like me?" Chad asked, fluffing his hair. Harry snorted, opening the bathroom door. "I'd say so."

"Sweet!" Chad exclaimed while bending down only to pop back up. "And I found the floss too!"

* * *

 

"Dude, you have to come with us! We haven't seen you in like days!" Jay exclaimed.

Ben had to give that to him, he had spend quite the majority of his time with Harry. So much time that a part of him was actually a little bit worried that Mal would get a bit jealous. (Not that he would've minded) But Mal had been understanding. Suspicious, but understanding. His other friends though, were on a lesser degree. While they were understanding, they still wanted to see more of him. He supposed he should be flattered and he was but that didn't mean he wanted to bail on Harry. After being badgered and begged (more like constant whining from Jay, puppy dog eyes from Carlos  _and_ Dude,  _many_ suggestions from Evie and mischievous smirks from Mal) for almost an hour, he gave in. What could he say? He was a sucker for his friends and he kind of missed them this week. Goodness forbid he tried to talk to them during their Potions class lest he accidentally give himself a sleeping potion. They even invited Lonnie and Jane along.

"Sick! This is gonna be epic! I was worried we would actually have to drag you away." Jay said as he plopped down on the couch in Ben's office. "Where are we going?"

"Hold on, you guys kept asking me to go out and you didn't even have a place or plan in mind?" Ben asked, more amused than annoyed. The four of them shrugged. "You know us." Jay piped up, "We like to live in the moment."

"This was very much a last minute thing. Literally. We came up with the idea to hangout outside the palace as we were walking up the stairs." Carlos said, spinning on one of the chairs.

"I say we go shopping." Evie suggested. Jay shook his head, getting off the couch only for Mal to take his place. "No way Jose. I used to spend all hours of the day stealing stuff for my dad and I didn't get  _nearly_ the amount of blisters I got than when I went shopping with you."

"So. Many. Stores. In such a little place." Carlos shuddered.

"I wouldn't say that place was little. In fact, it was pretty massive." Mal said, "Plus those mannequins were creepy." Evie whipped her head around to face her friend. "Mal! I thought you'd appreciate the replicas of the human body with you and all your art." She said, fake hurt.

"I can appreciate something and still call it creepy." Mal defended.

"How about mini golf?" Ben asked, "Competitive for Jay, distance calculations for Carlos, I'm pretty sure that you can find a cute outfit Evie and still kick all of our asses and Mal, I know you wouldn't mind hitting something for the next couple of hours and  _not_ getting in trouble for it. I'll even make sure you get a purple club."

The four VK's contemplated this before nodding in agreement. Jay clapped his hands together. "Looks like we're going mini golfing! I'll text Lonnie. Carlos text Jane." There was no need for him to say that though because Carlos was already on his phone.

Mal spoke up before the rest of them left to get ready. 

"Can we all just make an agreement to not break the equipment if you lose like that time we all went canoe racing? Jay, I'm looking at you."

* * *

Extreme paint balling.

So this is what passes for fun in Boreadon....interesting...for a Boreadorian.

"Dude, this is gonna be so sweet!" Chad exclaimed as they walked through the school grounds. It was times like this where Harry wondered if the plan was really worth all of this. To have to sit through endless mindless Auradon traditions with  _Chad_ of all people. At least with Ben he could be getting some work done. 

Harry scowled.

Ben, ever the enigma. The boy king who ran off onto the isle. Ben, the Auradorian who not only welcomed villain kids but embraced them. Ben, who with all his naivety, had made a deal with three little devils in order to save his people. Ben, who despite being kidnapped, wasn't all that scared of Harry.

His scowl deepened. 

"Hey, none of that depressing frowning shit. I dragged you out here to have fun, not scare away fellow pedestrians." Chad chastised. Harry shot a glare at him. This boy just didn't seem to know how to take a hint. Either that or he didn't care. In another world, Harry might've respected that, but here, right now, it took a significant amount of will power to not punch him in the throat.

"Can't I do both?" Harry whipped back.

"No." Chad deadpanned.  _"He's starting to get too comfortable around me."_ Harry thought.

"Such a brave attitude fer such a wee boy." Chad snorted. "Not brave, just smart." Harry raised an eyebrow. "Let me elaborate." Chad started, "You,  _terrify_ me. In fact, I'm pretty sure that if you had your hook, you would've done away with me by now except for the fact that it wouldn't be in your favor. Not to brag, but I'm one of the higher ups in this place. You screw me over, especially in public, whatever arrangement you've got with Ben disappears."

Harry stopped in his tracks to stare Chad dead in the eyes. Back on the isle, the unflinching eye contact left people shaking. It was too intense for most and was no different with Chad who shakily put his hands up.

"I did that thing where I put  _both_ feet in my mouth didn't I?" Chad asked. Harry only tilted his head and continued staring. Malice dancing in his eyes.

"I just meant that you're too smart for that. If your gonna be here, you're gonna milk the opportunity for everything it's got."

Harry squinted. So Chad did have something ticking inside there all along. Good to know.  _Too bad it's not you I'm after. I'm after someone much higher on the food chain._

Harry broke his stare and continued to walked, watching Chad struggle to keep up out of the corner of his eye. The two of them walked in awkward (for Chad anyways) silence until Chad called out someone from across the field.

"DOUG!" Chad made the motioning gesture with his hand for the dwarf boy to come.

"Hey...guys." Doug panted as he caught up with them. Not one for small talk, Chad cut right to the chase. "You doing anything today?" Doug shook his head. Chad beamed. "Great you're coming with us."

No later than a second after Chad spoke, Harry grabbed him by his arm and yanked him back, forcing Chad to face him. "More people?" He growled. Chad whimpered under his glare and stuttered out a response. "T-The m-more the m-merrier?" Harry shoved him back.

"Hey guys, sorry to interrupt...that" Doug gestured to the two boys, "But do you think we can invite my roommate along? I think he's starting to grow restless from being cooped up inside all day."

_"He ain't the only one."_ Harry thought bitterly but before he could say no, Chad beat him to it with a pitchy, over-excited yes, earning him another glare from Harry.

"You keep glaring at me and it'll lose it's affects." Harry only glared harder, smirking at the sight of Chad flinching a little. Chad cleared his throat. "So who's your roommate again?"

"Gil Legume." Doug answered. Oh yeah, Harry recalled, this was the young bloke that Gil had to share his room with. He supposed he could tolerate Gil coming, as long as he shut up about eggs and laundry. He stepped out of his thoughts only to see Doug and Chad waiting for him for confirmation.

"Sure, fine, whatever. Let's go get him."

* * *

"The Rules Of Mini Golf: The team who plays the 9 holes in the fewest strokes is the winner (all four team members scores will be added.) One stroke penalty if: Ball jumps fairway – play next shot from spot where ball jumped fairway. After members of party reach putting green, the one nearest the hole will putt first and continue to putt until..."

"Carlos, shut up." Jay interrupted, "It's mini golf. Hit the ball with with the stick thingy, land it in the hole. Done."

"Stick thingy? Since when did you become the expert?" Carlos asked sarcastically. 

"Don't need to be an expert. It's simple. Ball, stick, hole." Jay summarized.

"Dear goblins that sounds awful out of context." Mal commented. The two boys grimaced at her statement. The four VK's and Ben had gotten ready and met at the Beast statue. Lonnie and Jane caught up with them. They were all lounging around the statue waiting for Evie, who had forgotten her purse inside.

"While we're waiting, do you guys wanna make the teams?" Lonnie suggested. The rest of them agreed.

"Since we're technically playing a sport, I think we should let the two athletes decided." Ben motioned to Lonnie and Jay, "Sorry Carlos." Jay snorted while Carlos shrugged then hit Jay on the arm.

Ben walked over to where Mal was leaning on the side of the statue and put and arm over her shoulder. "You mind not taking the lead?" he joked. Mal stuck her tongue out at him.

"Mature." Ben teased.

"Always."

"Okay, let's pick our teams. Lonnie, ladies first." Jay offered.

"Oh, how chivalrous of you."

"Hey, I've been taking classes. Seriously, Basic Chivalry is my favorite."

"Yeah, for less chivalrous reasons." Carlos muttered next to Jane, which made her blush and giggle. Jay glared at him, "I'm gonna make you eat those words out on the field." Lonnie smiled and rolled her eyes.

"Okay. Teams..." She scanned her group of friends, "Jane, I love you but Mal." Jane gave Lonnie a smile while Mal walked over to Lonnie. "You're up." Lonnie said to Jay.

"Ben." Jay deadpanned. Jane gave a fake pout. "Oh no, two lovers separated." She joked. Mal joined in. "How ever will we cope?"

"By kicking each other's asses at mini golf." Ben answered. Mal grinned, "Naughty words, Benjamin." Lonnie chose Carlos over her laughter. 

"Jane we appreciate you!" Jay said. Jane walked over to the Jay, "I guess that means that Evie's on your team."

"I'm where?" Evie's arrival startled everybody.

"Thanks Eves, I really needed the dose of heart failure." Jay exclaimed, "How'd you get here so quietly?"

"The usual way: walking."

"Ha, ha, you're on Lonnie's team." Evie nodded before she walked over to her temporary teammates and gave them all high fives. She whipped around, making her blue hair glitter in the sunlight. "We're so beating you."

Jay seemed to be the only one willing for smack talk...at the moment at least. "The only beating that will happen is you four beating the ground with the stick when you lose."

"Club! Not stick, CLUB!" Carlos cried out. Jay just shrugged, "Stick, club, whatever. The only thing that bothers me is that we're uneven." He was right. While Lonnie's group had four members, including herself, Jay's only had three.

Meanwhile, Ben who had been quiet for awhile was looking off into the distance. One of the clubs that Audrey was in charge of was outside on the school grounds. It looked like they were inspecting...flowers? To his surprise, Uma was there too, looking bored beyond belief. He couldn't imagine that flower picking was her scene.

His mouth worked before his mind did. "Why don't we invite Uma?"

A chorus of 'huh' and 'what' went around.

"Uma? Is there another student named Uma because you couldn't possible talking about the girl who was at the lead of your abduction." Jay slapped a hand on Ben's shoulder, "Right buddy?"

_Oh well, no going back now_.

"No, I mean her. She should come with us." Ben stood his ground.

"And elves should rule the world. Now that we've listed the impossible, let's go mini golfing!" Evie smiled and spun to leave only for Lonnie to spin her back around.

"Come on guys, I'm serious. We have to mend bridges with her anyways or have you forgotten about the deal?" Ben argued. Mal, Jay, Carlos and Evie shared a mutual look of a disdain.

"Plus we are short a member for mini golf." Lonnie pitched in, gesturing to Ben's team.

"The more the merrier." Jane added. Ben sent them both a silent 'Thank You' before looking back at the rest of his friends. "So?"

The four of their glowers turned into begrudging acceptance. "But I think I speak for all of us when I say that I'm not asking." Mal said. The other three agreed. Ben looked at Lonnie.

"Don't look at me. Do you know how many of her crew members I tossed overboard?"

"She doesn't even know me." Jane said. Ben sighed. "Guess that leaves lucky ole me." He walked away with the faint murmurs of 'Good Luck.' He sucked in a deep breath before tapping Uma on the shoulder only for her to whip around and almost smack him in the face with her braids.

"What." Uma stated more than asked.

"Um...how are you?" He started off.

"Bored. What do you want?" She was so blunt about things. A part of him respected that. The rest of him wanted to keep stalling but secretly feared being hit by those braids.

"Wanna get out of here?" Ben asked bluntly.

"With you?"

"...With us." He motioned behind him where his girlfriend and her friends kept impassive faces and Lonnie and Jane awkwardly waved.

"Pass." Ben caught her arm as she started to turn around again but dropped it as soon as he saw her glare.

"Oh come on! You can't seriously like this! I don't know you Uma but even I know that flower picking isn't your scene." Ben argued. Uma's glared softened at him but she scrunched her nose up in disgust at the sight of all the flowers.

"Your right," She conceded, "If I see one more petunia I'll puke but you and your posse isn't a better option." Ben would not be discouraged. "Oh come on! We're going mini golfing. Just let me talk to Audrey and you'll be all set. And Mal and the others won't cause any trouble. I promise." Uma seemed to only pay attention to one part of the sentence. "What the heck is mini golfing?"

A smile spread on Ben's face.

"Come with me and find out. Something tells me you'll like it."

* * *

"Hell. No."

Chad was currently holding up a orange hazmat suit with a black face helmet with a clear plastic that would cover the wearer's face.

"There is literally nothing ye could do to make me wear that." 

After the three of them had gotten Gil, they walked over to where the 'paint war' as Chad liked to put it, would go down. Harry wasn't sure what he was expecting but the paint war happening in the middle of the forest made things a little more exciting. The only reason he stayed really. That and the fact that the alternative was to sit in his dorm room irritated that Mal was with Ben and that Uma had secret cards up her sleeve.

This plan was starting to get exhausting if he was being honest (to himself). Simple in theory, much more complicated in real life.

Ironically enough, Harry had no intention of going the romantic route, not that he was going that way now. Mal can have Ben for herself but as time passed on, it seemed like the easiest way to carry through. Now he doesn't now whether to make Ben his 'friend', foe, or possible friend with benefits. He snorted at the thought. Though the thought of Beasty hot and heavy under the sheets in secret brought a smirk to his lips. It didn't matter anyways, he supposed that in the end, if Uma's plan worked, they'd be foes anyway. It was simply a matter of time.

_"Way too much thinking fer a Saturday afternoon...or any afternoon."_ Harry thought.

"-and therefore it is  _imperative_ that you wear this body suit!" Chad argued. Harry focused back into reality, where the four of them were in a rather large (almost magic like) tent getting ready to play the game. The other three had already gotten dressed. Doug and Gil left for another tent. Harry was less than agreeable.

"What the bloody hell are ye on about?" Harry boredly inquired.

"Forget about ye!" Chad said with frantic hand motions, "You need to get dressed! The game's about to start in like five minutes!" Harry really couldn't see what all the fuss was about wearing the damn thing. Suit or no suit, what matter was if you got shot was it not? And unless looking like an Oompa Loompa would improve his aim, it really wasn't a concern of his. Plus, it was always nice seeing Chad's face turn a particular shade of red.

"What's in it for me?"

"Looking awesome." Chad gestured to himself wearing an exact version of the orange suit. Harry raised an eyebrow, Chad rolled his eyes. "You hang out with Ben a lot right? Well, this is one of his favorite games and he goes crazy for every aspect of it, even the dress up part. Imagine how many friend brownie points you'll get if your apart of that experience?" He baited.

The amount of intelligence Chad had shown today was starting to get worrisome. He's two for two.

Harry wrenched the suit out of Chad's hands and grumbled while Chad pat himself on the back. As Harry started to change right in front of him, Chad turned around in unexpected embarrassment. Harry chuckled, Auradorians were just too easy sometimes. While it was cuter when Ben did it, this was entertaining too.

"Okay, Doug and Gil are in another tent and they're gonna be wearing the same version of our suits but blue. While the point of this game,today at least, is to have one man standing, I say that we team up until the very end and then hash it out in a big paint filled finale." Chad explained while Harry changed.

_"Or I could shoot ye first thing and be done with it."_ Harry pondered. Instead he said, "How many people are playing?"

"Way more that you, me and Doug and Gil. We might be out here for the rest of the day." Harry groaned and scowled at the outfit change. "You'll love it, I promise." Chad reassured as he turned around and tossed Harry his helmet and paint gun.

"Now let's get out there and go force feed some poor suckers some paint."

* * *

There was a good chance that someone might go home with a club in their spleen.

The entire ride to the mini golf course was brutally awkward.

Per usual, they all took the limo. Jay being the designated driver that he was went straight towards the wheel and Lonnie called shotgun. At the moment Ben wishes he was shot with a gun. Anything to get rid of this tense silence. As soon as everybody was in the backseat, Mal, Evie and Carlos dragged Ben towards them and squished them all onto one side while Jane and Uma were on the other. Jane tried to make polite conversation with Uma but one blank stare from her shut Jane down and it's been heated glares and baited breaths (mostly from him and Jane) ever since.

Which moron decided to go mini golfing anyways?

He was so excited to see the golf course that when they arrived he nearly jumped over his friends to get out the door. What can he say? Awkward isn't one of his strong suits. Plus the need to be near nature had been growing in him lately. It helped that the course was on a grassy reserve with lots of trees and small streams. Not a forest, but close enough.

"Okay! Hope you all remember your teams and please, no whining when you lose." Jay shot a pointed look at Carlos who stuck his tongue out. As team captains, Lonnie and Jay were up first and played rock, paper, scissors to decide who shot first. Lonnie won and nearly got a hole in one. Jay hit the ball and it ricochetted off a tree and into a stream. Carlos broke out laughing.

"What was that?" He sputtered. Jay shot him a glare. "A warm up!"

"Yeah okay! And was that shot into the water was to cool it down right?"

"I'm about to throw you into the water." Jay replied, refocusing his attention on a new ball. Ben stopped watching and walked towards Uma. "You ever play before?"

"Oh yeah, didn't you hear? We had weekly mini golf tournaments on the Isle. But instead of a ball and club, we used garbage and sticks...also we usually used the sticks on people not the balls. Also it was called a brawl, not mini golf." She said.

"A simple no would've been so much easier."

"Easy's boring."

"I can show you if you want?" He offered. Uma shot him down. "I'll figure it out myself." He was about to argue that it's okay to ask for help until he remembered that this was Uma and mini golf. As much as she needed to open up, he needed to relax. So for a short while he just focused on the game. While Jay kept striking out at every course they went too, Lonnie was getting close to holes in one. Jane got a few holes on Carlos and Evie and few holes on him. At some point, Ben decided to try and talk to Uma again. She looked utterly indifferent to her surroundings and he didn't know if that was a bad thing or not.

"How are you?"

"No." Uma deadpanned.

"No what?" Ben was baffled. 

"To whatever your gonna ask me."

"How do you know it's even a yes or no question?"

"You can figure out my answer based of what I said."

"I was just gonna ask how school was." Uma shrugged. "It'd e better if I saw my friends more outside of class." Ben was puzzled, "Don't you guys hang out?"

"Rarely. Your little headmistress isn't too keen on boys and girls in the same bedroom for too long."

"Why?" Uma's raised an unbelieving eyebrow. Ben's eyebrows climbed up in acknowledgment. "Right. Well, can't you guys just text or something?"

"With what?"

The gears clicked in Ben's head as he deciphered what Uma meant. Wasn't hard honestly but he couldn't believe that he forgot to set the Sea Three up with basic communication. So much for treating everyone equally. The VK's were here a few days before they got phones, Uma and her friends were here way longer and had gotten nothing. What stung even more was that he had almost daily meet ups with Harry and it still skipped his mind. Ben glowered at himself. He almost tried to start another conversation with Uma until he saw that she was completely engrossed in watching. She didn't seem up for conversation so Ben just stuck to his thoughts and played the game.

He was completely relaxed until he realized that the next hole would be Uma vs Mal. The situation stunk like deja vu and would leave a bittersweet aftertaste but realistically there wasn't much he could do. Unrealistically, he wondered if he could convince Mal to take flight.

He watched with slightly baited breath Mal and Uma approached the hole.

"You ready for this?" Mal asked more snarky than supportive. Uma simply smirked. "Are you?"

"Born ready."

"Thought you were born scaly." Uma replied facing her. Mal looked Uma in the eye with a frown as they rock, paper scissored. Uma won and went first. "Luck." Mal deadpanned. Uma ignored her. Based off of what she watched, she couldn't bomb it like Jay did nor could she lightly tap it like Carlos did. She wasn't Lonnie so chances were she wasn't getting a hole in one which left her Jane and Evie's shots to try and replicate. She held the club dainty like Jane but struck hard like Evie and it got so close. To the very edge in fact. That tantalizing milliliter left her wanting to break the club in two. Worse, now she had to face Mal who was no doubt wearing one of her signature patronizing smirks. But if she didn't face her, Mal would have the upper hand in the grand scheme that was Uma Vs Mal and she couldn't let that happen. Not while she still breathed.

So Uma sucked in some air and looked Mal straight in the eye with a blank look as they switched spots. Unsurprisingly, Mal jauntily strutted to where she would putt, lazily swinging the club. Uma glared holes into the back of her head. "You do not get to win every time." Uma repeated, internally recalling the time on the pirate ship. The bitter defeat. She wasn't the only one. The others who had been watching with peaked interests and slight fear thought back too. The murmurs died down and the only thing left to be heard was the wind.

Mal turned her head to face Uma and did the unexpected. She smiled. An actual, genuine, closed mouth, smile.

"Watch me."

Mal hit the ball.

Hole in one.

* * *

It was loud and colorful. The sun went down ages ago. Everybody was covered in dirt and blinded by paint. The hazmat suits and helmets were starting to make sense. Random players fled for their lives tumbling over each other trying to get away only to get shot by paintballs.

It was brutal.

It was merciless.

And Harry loved it.

He'd lost track of time the minute he stepped on the field. He thought that this game would be a walk in the park but this was a war zone. Couldn't go one feet without a random player falling to your feet, fake dead after being shot by paint. Auradorians took this seriously.

At first Harry thought 'just what the hell was going on'. Now he just wanted to make sure that every person that wasn't him ate his paint.

And they could take that sentence however the fuck they wanted.

As much as he hated to admit it, he and Chad didn't make a horrible team. While Chad had the experience, Harry had the brutality. Two second made plans turned into two minute take downs. By sundown, Harry and Chad had taken down half of their opponents.

This was what he was accustomed too. The messiness and exhilaration of fights. Granted this was in a different context, but he was getting his high off of adrenaline regardless.

Dare he say, he might've gotten an addiction to this game.

Right now, Harry was crouching behind a tree trying to figure out the best way to take out the player in blue who thought they were sneaking up on him. He couldn't decide whether to wrench to gun out of his hand and go for the head shot or risk it and turn now for a surprise attack and chest shot. As it turns out, Chad made his decision for him by jumping out of the bushes that he was apparently hiding in and grabbed the paint gun out of the blue players hand while Harry seized the moment and shot him.

"AND ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST!" Chad exclaimed as blue player hit the ground with a dramatic thud. Chad trudged up to Harry, his boots muddy with painted dirt.

"Dude, good news. I just saw Doug and GIl taking out some of the last few survivors which means it's just us vs them. We can take them out and then epic showdown between us. What do you say?" He asked, hyped up on adrenaline. Harry stayed silent. He was a little busy watching a fellow player in orange creeping through the bushes, gun taking aim towards the back of Chad's head. Harry slowly raised his gun to Chad's head himself. Chad put his hands up in fake surrender. "Woah dude, the epic showdown is later not now." He joked, slightly nervous. Harry tuned him out and tilted the gun so that it barely missed Chad's head and hit the creeper right in the face. Chad whipped around as he went down.

"Damn. Thanks for the save." Chad clapped Harry on the back and for the first time, Harry didn't recoil in coldness. "Now let's go kick our friends' butts."

Sneaking through the forest at night with Chad watching his back and him watching his was an odd feeling for Harry. It wasn't a foreign feeling for him to look out for people. But that was usually reserved for himself and his crew. Extending that small exclusive circle of people would only serve to complicate things. But still, it wasn't the worst feeling. Harry internally cursed himself. Now wasn't the time for deep inner revelations. Now was the time for shooting little balls of high pressured paint.

He forced himself to shut his brain off and just focus on the game. It worked for a short while as the two of them snuck through the forest and cornered Doug. Between the two of them, Doug was trapped between facing them or a large bolder. Between a rock and a hard place indeed.

Doug lowered the weapon on the ground and kicked it to the side. "Heigh ho! Give me a heart attack will you?"

"How about a chest full of paint?" Chad asked, cocking his gun. Harry just looked on, focusing on not thinking.

"Can't a guy have his last words?" Doug pleaded. Chad was feeling charitable so he nodded which pleased Doug. "Your fly is down." 

In a panic, Chad glanced down to see if he was lying but saw himself completely unrevealed. Hell, there wasn't even a zipper. By the time he realized his mistake, Doug had grabbed his own gun and stepped away from the bolder, placing Chad between Harry and Doug.

"Made you look." Doug teased. Chad scoffed. "Those villain kids you hang with are changing you Dougie, you never would've done something like this before!" He said in fake betrayal. Doug simply shook his head and raised his borrowed gun to Harry and Chad.

What happened next was just pure reflex.

Harry took the butt of his gun and hit his roommate so hard in the chest that he barreled into Doug. It wasn't enough to send them to the ground but it enough to shock Doug into dropping the gun. The look in Harry's eyes told him that if he tried to reach for it, he'd be tasting paint for a week.

Chad whooped. "That my man! Now take him out so that we can get Gil." Instead Harry raised gun aiming for Doug  _and_ Chad. Two quick shots and this would be over. If it was a real bullet, it would just take one. Thank evilness this was just a game...for now. This should be easy. Almost like practice for the real thing. The two in front of him raised their hands.

"You've got us at your mercy." Chad said.

_Yeah...I do. And you have no idea._

The two shots were silent...but Chad wasn't.

"OW!" He yelled before dropping to the floor with Doug. Harry stepped over them, walking away to find Gil and trying to ignore the pang in his heart that rang with the shots.

_Just what the hell is wrong with me?_

By the time he reached Gil, his temporary slight internal break down was gone replaced by his usual haughty and mischievous attitude. It comforted him, second guessing wasn't his strong suit. From now on it would be the plan and nothing but the plan.

Finding Gil wasn't hard. He retraced Doug's footprints and found Gil painting a tree with the splatters left on it. Trying to sneak up on him wasn't even necessary.

"Hey Harry!" Gil greeted his friend once he noticed him. To the untrained eye it looked like he was drawing a circle but Harry knew it was an egg. Harry rolled his eyes.  _Egghead._

"What are ye doing?"

"Doug asked me if I wanted to wait here while he looked around. I said sure but then I got bored and started painting." Gil answered, "What're you doing here?"

Harry shrugged. "Well I just took out Chad and Doug so..." He trailed on. Gil looked at his friend in glee. "Does that mean you won?"

Harry grinned at his friend's dopiness and raised his gun. "Not quite."

He pulled the trigger.

* * *

 

Unsurprisingly, Chad was an epically sore loser. But he did congratulate him on winning the paint splatter trophy.

_"The one trophy I don't have!" He whined._

Doug and Gil went back to their rooms to freshen up and grab something to eat and Harry and Chad followed their examples but went to their own dorms instead.

"Dibs on the shower!" Chad called out.

"Since I won, shouldn't I get the shower first?" Harry prompted. Chad pouted. "Oh come on! Haven't you ever heard of sportsmanship?"

"Pretty sure it doesn't apply here." Harry tossed him the trophy. "Hang that somewhere nice yeah?" He said before walking into the bathroom. When he got out he saw Chad watching tv...without pants. He also found the trophy on a mantle near his bed. He smirked.

_"Surprised he didn't toss it out the window."_ Harry thought but that wasn't the only thing he found. There was a bare black phone on his pillows. He'd never seen it before so he assumed it was Chad's.

"Ye drop yer phone?" Chad tore his gaze away from whatever show he was watching. "I don't know...did they?" Harry rolled his eyes and showed him the phone. Chad's eyes lit up. "Oh yeah, I forgot. Ben stopped by while you were in the shower. Said it's for you and left it on your bed." He said before leaving for the shower.

Harry stared at the phone, puzzled. Ben was here? And why would he give him a phone? He pressed a button and looked around. Uma's number was already in the contacts list. Along with Gil's, Ben's and even Chad's.  _Ben bought us all phones?_

He felt something on the back and flipped the phone around to see a small blue sticky note attached.

_Easier to use than a compass. Now you can text me our cutlass lessons or talk to your friends.-Ben_

Harry lied back on his bed despite being wet and only in a towel. So much for sticking to the plan and only the plan. Uma told him to do whatever it takes to get to Ben. He cursed under his breath. She should've warned him about this too.

About the dreaded feeling of attachment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY BELATED NEW YEAR! (If you celebrate)  
> So fluffy...so misleading...This is one of those chapters that might not make sense at the moment but will several chapters later...Sorry about that. I CANNOT WAIT TO POST THE NEXT CHAPTER! This chapter was a bitch and a half to write but I'm so glad I got it done. Please tell me if you find any mistakes so I can fix it. Thanks for reading!


	13. Don't Rain On My Parade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rain, rain go away...no seriously, can you go away? You're not helping anything right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did anyone ask for Harry/Ben scenes? No? Whelp, you're getting them anyways. ENJOY!
> 
> Oh, and in case I haven't said this enough, THANK YOU for all the kudos and comments. They make my ice heart melt. I always have a mini panic attack before uploading a new chapter...oh well. YOLO...I'm so cringey.

Ben really hated council meetings.

Call him a brat but sitting at table in a humidity filled room packed with old rulers and advisors with a bit of a superiority complex and know-it-all attitudes for the majority of the day sounded like genuine torture.

Plus it was happening first thing on a Monday.

He supposed the good side of it was that he would miss the school day and that he wouldn't be alone. Evie was annoyed she'd miss a new unit in Chemistry but was excited nonetheless. Even with all the stuffy councilmen. He really wished he shared her excitement but if he heard one more story about 'how back in the day, when I ruled' he actually might snap. But there was a new factor that made this meeting different from all the others.

Harry.

Based on what he knows about the council and Harry, this could end as a roaring success or someone roaring for security to stop a brawl from going down.

It should be interesting to say the least.

It doesn't stop him from taking his time getting ready in his office though. He was supposed to go to Evie's dorm so he can walk with her down to the cathedral when he's done but he assumed that she'd appreciate the extra time to get ready. Besides, if he had left right now, he would've missed his father coming in.

"Hello son. I wanted to give you a little warning that I was coming but your secretary isn't here." Beast said. Ben remained seated at his desk but looked up at him. "Yeah." he said idly, "Margaret's son has the chicken pox so I gave her the week off."

Beast nodded in approval before taking a seat in front of Ben's desk. "Good. I just wanted to ask you about what your doing for mom's birthday." 

Shit! Ben knew he forgot something the day he went mini golfing. Originally, he meant to go shopping for a gift but got side tracked. Maybe there was still some time...

"Calm down son." Beast said, "We still have a week before the date hits."

"So you don't have a gift either?" Ben asked hopefully. Beast chuckled, "On the contrary, I'm taking her out on a bit of cruise if you will. Islands with some of the best libraries known to man...and non-man."

"Books, great scenery and even better weather? That's good. Mom's gonna love it." Ben complimented.

"Thanks, I just thought that you'd want to give her your gift before we left."

"You think right. As soon as this council meeting is done, I will personally go out and pick out a gift myself. I don't know if I can beat a cruise but I'll try." Beast smiled. "That's great. Well, that's all so I suppose I'll be on my way." Ben stood up to lead his father out but before he went out the door he turned to his son.

"Don't stress too much about the meeting or mom's birthday or anything. You'll come to see that any increase in heartbeat will usually have some...unexpected results."

 _"That's not cryptic._ _"_ Ben thought but at this point he knew that he wouldn't get any real answers from his dad. At least not anytime soon so he just nodded before he said goodbye. Ben walked over to his desk and checked the time on his phone.

_Almost nine, better go meet up with Evie._

* * *

The council was made up of twelve people. Not including the king and others.

There was King Charming from Charmington, Prince Charming from Cinderallasburg. (Not confusing at all) Either Prince Naveen and/or Princess Tiana from Bayou de Orleans. Sultana Jasmine or Sultan Aladdin from Agrabah. Someone always had to stay home to keep the Abu, Magic Carpet and Rajah in check. One time, they had an open yard sale in the castle. Sometimes Genie popped in for minute or two. Queen Rapunzel and King Flynn Rider from Tangletown, King Triton from Atlantica, King Arthur and Merlin from Camelot Heights, Queen Aurora and Prince Phillip from Auroria and finally, The Emperor from Northern Wei. Occasionally a god or two would stop by from Mount Olympus but that rarely happened these days. Thank god it wasn't International Day. They usually needed a much bigger room if they were to have  _that_ many people. 

If you included everybody else there would be the king, Ben, his royal advisor Evie, who also spoke for The Isle of The Lost, Lonnie, his ambassador for Northern Wei, his new political student (fancy term for unpaid intern) Harry, Fairy Godmother who acted as a mediator and Jane who occasionally shadows her when she's not running around completing errands.

In grand total there would be about eighteen people in the respectively tiny room, more or less. Ben really regrets wearing a blazer because of the heat that will no doubt accumulate in the room later on. He almost envies Evie for wearing a dress. He doesn't make it to the second floor before he starts to sweat, and the meeting hasn't even started yet.

_This is gonna be brutal._

He doesn't go into the meeting room first but rather the backroom next to it. It's customary for the king to be the last seated after everybody else is settled. So he's just sitting next to a window trying to enjoy fresh air when Evie walks in.

"Hey Ben, Lonnie sent me in to tell you that everybody's almost seated." Ben looked away from to window to her. "Okay."

She gracefully sits right next to him at the bay window. "Do you even know what this meeting is about? We didn't really get briefed on it, at least I didn't.

"Don't feel bad. I honest to god have no idea what today is about. It's probably the usual." He says, referring to all the times they talked about press, the Isle, bills, the Isle, kingdom politics, the Isle, Ben's relationship with his 'subjects', the Isle, the Isle, the Isle...

With all this talk about the Isle, it's a miracle (or tragedy) that they've barely got anything done. But that seems to be precisely the point. Everybody's talking and not doing anything, but no more, which is why Harry is sitting in on today's conference.

He's still not sure how that'll go.

"I better go." Evie says, snapping him out of his thoughts, "King comes in last and all that. Let's just hope there are some muffins left."

"Save me a chocolate chip one!" He calls out as she leaves. He stares out the window a little bit longer to enjoy the fresh air he knows he won't get for the next couple of hours. He sighs as he gets up and fixes his blazer.

_Better not keep them waiting._

* * *

Harry walks into the room full of confidence despite not having a clue of what to do first. Of course, he's greeted with blank stares and frightened glares. So naturally...

He glares back harder.

Since it's his first official consul conference, he wasn't quite sure on what to wear, not that he thought that much about it. Between, homework, contest work, secret plan work, and the general piece of work that is Chad, he didn't have much time to go over outfit choices in his head. He ran into Lonnie a few days before the meeting and asked her. She just said to wear something a little more refined.

So he opted for the red coat  _with_ sleeves with his ripped jeans, ripped shirt, boots and fingerless black leather gloves instead of the sleeveless one. Which he might live to regret because  _goddamn,_ it's hot in here.

He catches Lonnie's eye (who is wearing a blue trouser suit) from across the room and smirks at the little laugh she lets out. He even does a little twirl with his coat the keep the act going.

 See _Uma, I can be friendly...sometimes._

Lonnie nods over to what looks like a narrow table lined with food and he follows. As soon as he gets there he immediately starts snacking, looking up at Lonnie every now and then.

"Nice outfit." She complements.

"Only the finest for you oh so fine people." He mutters, mouth full with what he thinks is a jelly donut. Lonnie leaned back on the table to make herself more comfortable. "You ready for this?"

"I think the question is, are they ready for me?" Harry responds cheekily. Lonnie smiles, "Probably not, but I'm sure this'll all be fine. A few tips?" Harry nodded while scarfing down a biscuit. He looked on while Lonnie pointed out random people throughout the room.

"Okay, so you see the old guy with long robe and pointy hat? That's Merlin, never make fun of his hat or bring up politics, I promise you'll be stuck in a conversation until you're as old as him. That's King Triton, you two might get along since you both smell like fish and seawater." She joked only to get hit in the forehead with bacon, "Um, there's Queen Aurora and Prince Phillip. It's a little awkward when they come now because Ben was supposed to marry Audrey and they were supposed become...extra royalty I suppose but since Ben didn't, they aren't and we just don't talk about it.

"The guy with the giant sword is King Arthur, I hate that he brings that thing everywhere. Oh sweet! Princess Tiana is here! She always brings the  _best_ gumbo. The girl wearing the decked out blue crop top is Princess Jasmine. I wonder how magic carpet is doing. Last time I saw him, he had broken up with a magic broom or something. Anyways, there's the esteemed Emperor, you already know Evie, Fairy Godmother and Jane. Finally, you see the girl with a chameleon on her shoulder and the man next to her? That's Queen Rapunzel and her husband, King Flynn Rider, but you can call him Eugene if you want. Don't tell anyone I said this because it might actually cause a national dispute but personally, Rapunzel and Eugene are me and Ben's favorite."

Harry stood there, soaking in all of Lonnie's information while munching on a muffin (he got the last one). If Eugene or Flynn or whatever and Rapunzel were Ben's favorite, he might want to make it a priority to get closer to them.

Lonnie looked down at her watch and then back at Harry. "We should get seated, the meeting's starting soon. While I'm gonna be next to the Emperor, you're gonna be at the first seat on Ben's left, next to Merlin, pointy hat guy, while Evie is going to be in the first seat on Ben's right, next to Aurora, Audrey's parents." She left him with that information but he was mostly focused on finishing the muffin.

No later than two seconds after he sat down, the first thing Merlin asked about was something about trade policies. Following Lonnie's advice the only thing he said back was 'nice hat.'

This thing would be a cakewalk if all he had to do was complement some old guy's hat.

The first thing he noticed after everybody was settled was just how quiet it was. He's never been so aware of how many breaths each person in the room took. It didn't bother him, it was just a fact. The second thing was  _why_ everybody was quiet. At the head of the table was not one but  _two_ kids of some of the most infamous villains. Harry didn't even try to hide his grin and from what he could see, neither did Lonnie who was trying and failing to conceal her giggling next to the Emperor.

He decided there and then that she was one of the more favorable Auradorians.

He almost wishes Ben didn't step into the room just so he could savor all the awkwardness. But alas, he did, and when everybody stood up, he followed suit. No one spoke as Ben walked to the head of the table where the mini throne was and sat down. Harry almost sat down until he realized that everybody was waiting for the okay from Ben. It looked like Ben forgot himself as he did a rushed hand motion to sit everybody down.

Now, Ben's outfit wasn't any masterpiece to look at. It was another rendition of what he wore everyday. What really threw Harry for a loop was the golden, jewel encrusted crown sitting on top of his head, slightly tilted. Even worse, it looked like it belonged up there, like it was made for him. The people all around him, regardless of age, looked up to Ben for the final decision for almost everything. It hits Harry like a bullet. The grand severity of going along with Uma's plan. All of those mini internal breakdowns that finally led up to this:

He was part of a plan against the actual king, the ruler of pretty much everything, and he wasn't going to stop until he saw things through...most likely.

_Most likely?_

_Goblins._

Thanks to being skilled in deception and manipulation, Harry was able to sit there and look on without looking like his mental state was breaking in two.

Sometimes, Harry was rather grateful for growing up on the Isle.

"Okay, are there any concerns that anyone here wishes to discuss?" Ben asked. Right off the bat, Prince Phillip stood up. He had a certain air about him. Not regal yet kind like Ben but more arrogant and self-entitled and Harry should know, he's grown up around those types of people all of his life. Plus, his roommate is Chad.

He figured he probably wouldn't like Prince Phillip.

"Your highness, the trash collection has skipped Auroria for the second time now. The last thing we want is to be living in filth." Harry watched as Phillip unsubtly looked at Evie and himself. He had to give Evie props for not reaching over and smacking him since she was the closest. Instead, she kept a tight lipped smile on her face. "It would be graciously appreciated if you did something about it."

_And it would be graciously appreciated if you stayed quiet for the rest of this meeting._

"I will have trash collectors sent over immediately." Ben said blandly. When Queen Rapunzel stood up, his mood considerably brightened. Maybe she really was one of his favorites.

"Greetings my king, how are you?" Ben smiled in response, "There is a very odd weed growing in many of the gardens of Tangletown and it's killing many of the plants and we aren't aware of the source and have run out of the resources to stop it."

"But do we have to stop it?" Eugene interjected, "There are some really ugly flowers out there and that much pollen makes my allergies flare up. Maybe it's for the best." Rapunzel smacked him on the shoulder before returning her attention to Ben.

"I'll have professional plant inspectors and professional gardeners sent over first thing with harmless pesticide to humans and animals."

"Thank you, my king."

And that was it. Harry honest to Devil, wished he was lying but that was it. For the rest of the morning it was just sharing complaints back and forth. Mostly from Prince Phillip than anyone else. By the time the afternoon rolled around even Lonnie had lost her giddiness, playing with her cuffs to past time. Harry had gotten a slightly better hand. Seriously, Merlin kept showing him card tricks in between random pauses.

He was about to give up and fake being awake when things got slightly more interesting and it's all thanks to Prince Phillip. That guy really grated on Harry's nerves.

"There has been a particular...fume coming from the direction of the Isle of the Lost. While we already have our own trash to deal with, their particular filth shouldn't become a problem of ours." Prince Phillip announced with all the air of a royal douchebag. 

 _"Maybe, if ye didn't send all of your trash there ye wouldn't have to deal with the fumes of our, technically yours, filth."_ Harry thought. He wasn't the only one restraining himself either. Evie sat there not smiling nor frowning but the particularly stiff expression on her face gave her away. To Harry at least.

"Well I'm not exactly sure what you want me to do about the air." Ben said formally but even Harry could tell that he was holding back a bite. If Prince Phillip had any sense, he'd stop talking.

"Well take care of it of course! Are you not the king? Simply send a few people to look over the job of collection. I'm sure you can think of a few." Harry watched as Phillip (he was done addressing him with a formal title, even inside his head) glanced over a him and Evie. More so Evie. Whether it's because Evie was the best friend of the daughter of the woman/dragon who cursed his wife and antagonized his daughter or because Evie had a reputation for being more sane than him, Harry didn't know. It was a miracle that he hasn't said anything himself yet.

_Keep quiet, Uma wouldn't want you to get involved and draw attention to yourself. Someone else can handle it._

Of course that savior would've been Ben. "Would you like to be the head of the trash collection, Prince?" Ben sharply offered. Harry relished the glib expression being wiped off of Phillip's face even if it was for just a brief moment before Phillip slipped back into what Harry assumed was his 'regal face.'

"What a funny joke Your Highness but I believe that there are others more suited to handle the task." Phillip looked over at Evie, "How about you miss? You must be able to sift through all the trash since you've be able to navigate your way through it all your life." He turned his attention towards Harry, "And you young man, you look like you can haul garbage. And if you need any help, I'm sure your old home friends would be able to contribute. Your highness, surely you'll agree? What else can they be as useful for?"

Harry just sat there, stone faced and stone cold. It took either a lot of balls or a lot of stupidity to not only insult and undermine people on the king's royal court but the friends and girlfriend of the king. And Harry was pretty sure Phillip was lacking in southern department considering he was getting a power trip over calling Evie, himself and every other kid of the Isle, trash.

Ben kept his composure, "Prince Phillip, if you will-" He was cut off by a snarky voice with a particularly thick accent.

"-stuff it, that would be particularly great. May I suggest stuffing it with the trash that displeases you so? That would be one way to get rid of it." Harry didn't even register his mouth moving until he saw all the silent shocked faces in the room, especially Phillip. Even Ben stared down at him with raised eyebrows but not with anger. He also noted the undercurrent of appreciation on everybody's face except Philip and Aurora, which was to be expected.

_Oh well. Might as well roll with it._

"But then again, there would always be the problem of the trash that's in this room right now." Harry commented idly. Phillip looked at Ben outraged. "Are you to let this miscreant speak to me like this?" Ben didn't even lift an eyebrow at the raised volume of Philips voice. Instead, he kept a cool face as he spoke. "Freedom of speech."

"I'd be careful with your words boy and hold your tongue. It wouldn't do well to mess with royalty." Phillip threatened. Harry shrugged. "I bet. Your daughter tried to screw with royalty and it didn't seem to work out in her favor."

Lonnie's words echoed in his head from earlier, _"It's a little awkward when they come now because Ben was supposed to marry Audrey and they were supposed become...extra royalty I supposed but since Ben didn't, they aren't and we just don't talk about it."_

_Looks like we're talking about it._

"You unknowing, arrogant-"

"I think we can wrap up the council meeting for today. I look forward to next month." Ben cut Phillip off, fake sweetness dripping in his voice.

Every member of the council sat there watching the sight of Philip and Aurora get more and more flustered. Aurora wasn't that bad, very quiet. Phillip seemed to be the hot head of the two. Opposites attract, Harry supposed but he wasn't done talking yet.

"If that's all, may I suggest you hurry back to your home if your that worried about your trash situation." Harry didn't really know if he had the authority to dismiss someone like that. A prince no less. He had the audacity, but not the authority so he looked up at Ben who nodded in agreement. 

Phillip grabbed Aurora's hand and almost walks of in a rage until he seemingly remembers who he is and where he was and regains some composure. Before he left he sent a harsh glare to everyone in the room, especially Harry.

"Leaving without a formal goodbye to the King? How rude! On the bright side, I think he likes me." Harry stated. The faces around the room looked at him in astonishment before breaking out into laughs and giggles.

"Thank god someone finally approached the elephant in the room. I couldn't do it and I have a pet tiger." Princess Jasmine said. Flynn Rider cackled in his chair, "Did you see how red Phil got? I don't even think that Pascal can turn that red." Harry looked over on his right shoulder and saw a red chameleon perched on his shoulder trying in an honest attempt to mimic Phillip's face and Harry's jacket. Instinctively, Harry swatted the small lizard away who landed in Rapunzel's lap and turned purple like her dress.

"It was certainly interesting but I wouldn't be surprised if I got an earful from Audrey later about it." Ben admitted.

* * *

 

After everybody let out all of their shits and giggles, they slowly started to leave the room one by one. Each person making sure to greet and thank Harry before they left. Tiana even let him have a taste of her gumbo and Lonnie was right, it's delicious. While they were all still wary of him, they all thought that Harry had spunk and while Harry was by no means trying to impress anybody, he couldn't help but favor the fact that it was Phillip who was run out of the room and not him.

Harry was on his way out the door before someone unexpected stopped him. It was Evie. He glared on reflex but it didn't seem to affect her. In fact, she didn't even acknowledge it. Instead she said, "I'm not thanking you but what you did in there...that was cool."

This confrontation made Harry wary. Any conversation with a VK usually didn't turn out good so he kept his reply short and sharp. "Wasn't for you or your gang."

Evie sighed, "I know, but still...it was...appreciated." She left with a half smile and less hate in here eyes. She also left Harry with a ton of confusion.

Just what in the seven hells was that?

He didn't have much time to ponder on it seeing as Ben was approaching him. "Thank you for that. You don't know how long I've wanted to same something to Prince Phillip but political peace and all that. Plus, leaving his daughter didn't exactly help anything."

Harry snorted. "It was fun. If you ever need someone to verbally harass someone else, I'm your pirate. Consider it, my token of appreciation for..."Harry trailed off, pulling out his phone from his pocket to show Ben instead.

"Oh. That. Yeah, it was no problem, you guys deserved it." Ben said kindly. Harry shrugged. "Yeah but still, I don't like debts so...we're good."

Ben broke out laughing in front of him, "Wow, an almost thank you from you. I think this place is starting to rub off on you."

Harry rolled his eyes. "It's all this sunlight. Can't be good for you."

"Oh yeah, you're getting vitamin D, god forbid." The sudden silence afterwards made Harry all too aware that he and Ben were the last ones in the room. A very humid room. He was close enough to Ben that he could almost count the little sweat beads that had gathered on his forehead but he wouldn't because that's creepy.

"You doing anything for the rest of the day?" Ben asked out of the blue. It was so sudden, Harry didn't even get the chance to think about whether he wanted to lie or not. "No."

"Great. It's only twelve and everybody's still in school. You wanna go shopping with me?" He offered. 

A smirk fell onto Harry's face. "A shopping spree with the King. How exciting." Ben playfully smacked Harry's arm, "I have to go shopping for my mom's birthday and I think it'll be more fun with a friend."

"Are we friends now Benjamin?" The question felt oddly intimate but Harry kept up the air of arrogance for normality's sake.

"What else would you be?"

 _A future traitor._ "A kickass cutlass teacher."

"Teach me how to not stab myself tomorrow. Come shopping with me today." Ben proposed. This is a bad idea. Harry should definitely not agree to this. He should just continue to work his way in through the sword lessons.

"Eh, bloody hell, sure."

* * *

"How exactly are we getting into the city? Tell me we're not going by carriage. I will turn around and walk back to school if we're going by carriage."

The two of them were outside the cathedral now for some much need fresh air. Harry watched as Ben made a phone to someone talking about transportation. He's been in some carriages before, they're not comfortable.

"No, we're not taking a carriage." Ben answered, "We're taking a car but I will admit that we will have a driver." Harry groaned. "Can't you drive anywhere yourself?"

"Well, we could've taken my motorcycle but I don't think you would've appreciated having your arms around me for a forty minute drive." Harry forcibly pushed down the warm feeling of that prospect. "Of course not. You would've had your arms around me." He says cheekily.

"Do you know how to ride a motorcycle?" Beasty asked, not even phased by the thought of wrapping his arms around Harry. At least not showing it.

"I'd figure it out."

"Well as much fun as possible road collision sounds like, we're just gonna have to wait for the car."

"What're we supposed to do until the car arrives?"

Ben shrugs, "Is there anywhere you wanna go outside of the school?"

"The sea...and Neverland. I wanna see what the big fuss is about." In reality, it's been his dream since before he could walk to go to Neverland. Having a childhood filled with stories about a magical place that was just out of reach for his father made Harry curious. Plus, he wanted to do the one thing his father could never could but naturally, he kept that to himself.

"Maybe you will one day...if you believe."

"I believe that I'll smack you if you make another corny joke like that."

"I might've deserved that one." The next twenty minutes are filled with banter between the two of them. The King is much sassier than he originally thought but that entertains him. It's much better than what he originally imagined: bland conversation about weather, politics and the health benefits of being 'good.' In fact, Ben hasn't even brought up anything about influencing Harry to switching to good. He figures that he should be more curious about that but making Ben turn a particular shade of pink when he laughs is the much more fun option right now.

When a small black car pulls up, Harry lazily gets up from the outside stairs of the Cathedral. Ben, who never stopped to sit down, greets the driver with a smile in particular Ben fashion.

"Hey Chip! What're you doing here? I thought one of the usual drivers would pick us up." Ben asked. Harry assumed that the dirty blonde, blue eyed driver was Chip. From where he was standing, Chip looked to be in his mid to late twenties.

"So did I. Went into the kitchen to drop off some new packages of tea -shut up- and next thing I know, mom's going all "you've gotta go pick up Ben, everybody else is far too busy! Tut! Tut! Tut!" Chip answered with a high pitch to micmic his mother, Mrs. Potts.

"When has Mrs. Potts ever gone, "Tut, tut, tut?" Ben asked with air quotes. Chip waved him off. "You wanna stand out there in the sun questioning my mother's dialect or do you wanna go...wherever the heck it is I'm driving you?" Chip had this odd childlikeness about him. An odd mixture of curiosity, bluntness and kindness that most people couldn't pull off.

"Fair point." Ben looked at Harry, "Ready to go?"

"I don't know, I read in your fancy little Auradon books that I shouldn't get into cars with strangers." Harry teased. He didn't really care but making things slightly more difficult was his specialty. Plus, it didn't seem to phase Chip in the slightest.

"Hi! I'm Chip, I'm guessing you're Harry. I'm friends with Ben and you're friends with Ben. Boom! Now we're not strangers. Now both of you get in the car before we all melt out here."

* * *

Harry looked out the window from the backseat while Ben and Chip talked up front. He watched the outside world go by him as they drove. The sun poked through the leaves on the trees and left faded spots everywhere. Back on the Isle, the closest thing to good weather was a slightly cloudy day and even that was rare. For all of Auradon's over goodness, Harry supposed that the sun wasn't that bad.

Not that he was ever admitting that to Ben. Or anyone. Nope, never.

"Hey, where the heck am I taking you guys anyways? Mom never specified and I'm assuming it's off school property if you need a car." Chip asked while keeping his eyes on the road. Harry was curious too. Ben had said 'what' they were doing, but not 'where'.

"Town square." Ben supplied, taking off his jacket, "Gotta go get mom's birthday gift."

"Shit." Chip swore, dragging out the 'i', "Why does the universe plot against me? I've already spent most of my, admittedly un-aging, childhood as a blasted cup, isn't that enough?"

"Forgot?" 

"Yup. And now I'm gonna get a book or five thrown at me. And it's gonna be one of the hard cover ones too. Like  _Moby Dick."_ Harry barely held in a snort from the backseat. Obviously, he didn't do too well of a job since he caught Ben smiling at him in the driver's mirror.

"Wanna come with us?" Ben offered. Chip shook his head. "Can't, way too many things to do today. In fact, I'm probably going to be late after I drop you two off. If I give you a twenty do you think you could pick up some flowers or something?"

"Don't worry about it. I got it covered."

"Good, and thank you because I don't really have a twenty. You are the best almost brother I've ever had." Ben let out a sputtering laugh, "I'm the only almost brother you have."

"Yeah, but I do have like twelve other actual siblings and right now, you beat most of them."

"Most?"

"Landon gave me his extra pancake this morning, you can't beat that." Ben nodded in defeat. "Fair." Harry watched from the back, amused. He'd never seen Ben so relaxed, other than around the VK's but this was different from them. Ben had this easy going attitude that could only come from growing up with someone all your life. The term 'almost brother' seemed appropriate.

"Hey Harry, get ready for the most grueling sport you'll ever play; shopping." Chip said. Harry rather liked Chip. Or more accurately, could tolerate him more than most. Like Ben, he didn't really seemed phased by the fact that Harry was a villain kid. Hell, he wasn't even sure if Chip noticed.

"I think I can handle it." Harry replied confidently.

"You say that now but I promise, you can't. Just wait until you're fighting with an old lady over the last limited addition sea glass necklace from Atlantica and she's using her cane  _and_ her purse to attack you and having no backup." Chip recalled bitterly. Ben rolled his eyes, "Oh my god, that was two years ago!"

"Don't talk to me about time!" Chip exclaimed, "Time has barely healed the scar I got from that lady's knitting needles. Who has sharpened knitting needles? Crazy old ladies who have inhaled too many cat fumes, that's who. Who has a lifelong scar? Me, because my almost brother wouldn't help me out."

"I wasn't going to attack an old lady!" Ben defended himself. "I didn't need you to attack her, I needed you to distract her while I made a break for the cash register. Besides, it wasn't like she was defenseless. She was like, what, ninety? And still kicking my ass." Chip explained. The two of them continued to argue about hypotheticals about that day as they drove. 

Harry just watched and laughed from the backseat.

* * *

The drive itself had taken about forty minutes. Chip had dropped them off in the middle of the square next to the water fountain. Harry watched as Ben gasped and dug through his pocket for his phone.

"Shoot. Left my jacket in the car." Ben said as he took out his phone, "Maybe I can call Chip back." Harry lowered Ben's hand that had the phone in it.

"Leave it. I'm sure he'll give it back to you later. You look fine without it." Harry said before he could question complimenting Ben's attire.

"Yeah but still...it's my jacket." Ben offered lamely, putting the phone back in his pocket.

"Devil forbid you look like a regular Auradorian. Besides, it's hot out, you'll be fine." Harry didn't know why he was being reassuring but it didn't stop him.

"But it's supposed to rain later." Ben argued.

"Well it's not raining now." Harry rebutted, "Now let's go before we run into a slightly homicidal old lady or something." That, earned him a smile from Ben who conceded at Harry's point but instead of leading the way, Harry watched as Ben took off his tie and stuffed it into his back pocket. The little action had made him look less regal but it wasn't enough.

"Not enough." Harry said. The collar was far too buttoned up for Harry's liking.

"What else is there?" Ben asked. While Harry was aware that he liked to get into people's personal space, he wasn't aware of how much until he automatically stepped closer to Ben and undid the first two buttons.

Ben was tall but Harry was taller. Ben eyes flickered up into Harry's and blue met green as Harry undid the second button. A blush spread on Ben's cheeks even as Harry quickly stepped away. Harry on the other hand was trying his damnedest to not smirk or smile or anything considering that even  _he_ didn't see that coming. Sometimes his impulses worked for him and sometimes they worked against him.

"So, the mall, where are we going or are we just gonna stand here staring at each other awkwardly?" Harry asked, happy to change the topic but still willing to poke fun. Ben let out a playful huff as a reply, probably still reeling a bit from the sudden and then un-sudden personal space.

"Um, yeah. I don't really have a specific place in mind so I guess we'll just start that way." Ben stuttered, pointing in a random direction.

* * *

Mal sat in boredom as she half-listened to the teacher drone on about correct proportions. She didn't know how Evie could do this. She supposed that in the grand scheme of life, Chemistry would probably be useful at some point, but now, as the period before lunch, it was as good as dead to her.

The only exciting thing that happened was when Evie came back early from her meeting and sat down in her usual place next to Mal. She idly passed Evie her notes and went back to daydreaming because goblins knows that Evie's gonna be one of the few who actually pay attentions to the class. Sometimes she really hated council meetings. They took her best friend and her boyfriend away in what Ben and Evie actively described "Hours of heat induced, stuffy torture." She passively wondered why Evie was back so early. Mal usually would see her after lunch. And if Evie was back, did that mean Ben would be joining them too? The thought perked her up a bit.

When the bell rung signaling lunch, all the students groaned in satisfaction except Evie, who groaned in defeat because she didn't get to finish all of her notes. As Mal packed up, she accidentally looked up and locked eyes with Uma. Automatically, she glared and Uma glared back. There was an odd sense of familiarity about it. The kind that didn't fill Mal up with rage but with an odd sense of nostalgia. No matter how much she hated The Isle, it was still where she grew up.

Mal waited for Evie to finish and pack up and was totally ready to ditch this class and meet up with Carlos and Jay, when she heard Evie call out Uma's name. Mal didn't know who whipped around faster, herself or Uma.

At first, Mal thought that something had happened between Evie and Uma that Evie wanted to handle on her own. Instinctively, she braced herself for a fight, ready to defend her best friend. But when she saw the equally confused look on Uma's face, she figured that wasn't the case.

"What?" Uma snapped defensively. Mal couldn't blame her. Even she didn't know what was going on.

"Do you have anywhere to sit for lunch?" Evie begrudgingly asked. Uma and Mal stared at her shell-shocked. Mal has seen and done a lot of weird things during the course of her life (she turns into a dragon for goblins sake) but this beats almost all of them.

"...What?" Uma asked again, less defensive, more confused. Surprising herself, Mal kept her mouth shut, waiting to see how this went. While she didn't trust Uma, she did trust Evie. She would put faith in her newfound judgement. No matter how strange it was.

"Lunch. I don't really know where you sit but you can join us if you want." Evie elaborated. Mal's mind drifted over to Carlos and Jay who would either choke on their food or use it as ammo against Uma if she sat with them. Jay more so than Carlos.

"Pass. Meeting up with Gil." Uma replied. Mal watched Evie's reaction. She didn't seem surprised or hurt or discouraged. Evie was acting like inviting your enemy for lunch was totally normal but then again this was Auradon but then again, Auradon had people like Audrey and Chad.

"He can come too." Evie offered. At this point, Evie could've grown another head and it would've made more sense to Mal. What was happening here? Even stranger, Uma seemed to be considering the offer before declining again.

"Maybe later." Uma turned to head out the door but before she left she faced Evie, completely ignoring Mal which was fine with her because Mal was still stuck on _"Do you have anywhere to sit for lunch?"_

"It wasn't awful of you to offer." With that, Uma left leaving Evie and Mal in the empty room.

"What was that?" Mal blurted out.

"Me attempting to bury the proverbial hatchet." Evie vaguely explained, "And it's all Harry's fault." Evie walked out of the room after she grabbed her stuff leaving Mal standing there gaping like a fish.

"All Harry's fault?" Mal repeated, "What the hell does that mean?" Evie popped her head back through the classroom door. "Are you coming? I wanna get to lunch before Carlos tricks Jay into eating the ever disgusting condiment milkshake...again. You know that Jay puked for days afterwards."

Mal, still stupefied at what just happened, gave up trying to understand and followed Evie out the door.

_Whatever, I'm hungry anyways. I wonder if there are any strawberries left._

* * *

Harry made sure to keep up with Ben through the various twists and turns but kept his distance. One more repeat like earlier and Ben might go running for the hills. Or the water. Whichever was closer.

As Harry walked through the plaza, he inspected everything. There were hundreds of shops and restaurants everywhere along with both fake and real plants scattered along for decoration purposes. The ground had a color variation of light brown rectangles to darker brow rectangles. He doesn't know why that stuck out to him, it just did. Or maybe it was because the constant pattern was interrupted by a sudden patch of green.

Harry looked up to see a very large glass house filled with plants looking back at him. He turned his head to see the rectangles and turn back to see that grass. "What the?" Harry muttered.

"We're at a greenhouse." Ben supplied. Harry raised a questioning eyebrow. The glass house didn't look green...besides the plants. "It's a building made of glass for various plant life." Ben explained. Harry nodded in understanding. "What're we doing here?"

"Chip's flowers remember?" The two of them strolled into the greenhouse. Ben, forever a gentlemen, held the door open for Harry. Harry, thanked Ben by cooing an  _aw_ at him. Ben punched Harry in the arm.

"Hey Margaery! How are the plants doing? How are you doing?" Ben asked as they walked up to a brunette woman overalls holding a cactus pot. She was quite pretty, with olive skin and blue-green eyes. If Harry had to guess, he'd say she was in her mid-twenties.

"They're fine and so am I. I'd be better if Chip would stop asking me when I was getting the man-eating tree." Margaery joked.

"Speak of the devil, he's sent me on a little mission for flowers. Have you gotten any good ones lately?"

"Lately?" She said with fake offense. Ben playfully rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean." Margaery pointed to a large colorful section of plants behind her. "Those are all I've got." Ben gave her a 'thanks' and began to set off in that direction before she stopped him.

"Excuse me young man, where do you think you're going?" Ben's eyebrows shot up in surprise. Margaery rolled her eyes and pointed to the boy in red. "Who's your friend?"

"Oh! Right! You've been with me all day, I forgot that some people don't know you." Ben said to Harry, who had been playing with the leaves of a nearby plant. "Even my charms don't extend that far."

"They don't extend at all." Ben quipped and was interrupted by the sound of Margaery forcibly clearing her throat. She looked at him with an all knowing smile.

"Sorry about that. Maegaery this is Harry, Harry this is Maegaery." The lady in question, stepped towards Harry and shook his hand. It was still something he was getting used to. Formalities weren't exactly common back on the Isle. Hell, she even had a firmer handshake than he did.

"Nice to meet you. Any friend of Ben's is welcomed into my greenhouse anytime." She said, smiling. Harry let a grin form on his face. "I don't know about that. I've never been near so many not dead plants in my life, I very well might kill them."

"Is that a challenge against my gardening skills? Bring it on." Maegaery challenged. "I would but I gotta babysit the king all day. You know, he's practically clueless." Harry teased, side-eyeing Ben, who snorted in response.

"How honorable." She kept playing along. "Yeah, he's full of nothing but noble intentions." Ben said. Maegaery laughed before leaving them to their bidding. Ben and Harry walked towards the section of plants that Maegaery had pointed out, scanning the flowers for anything that might stick out.

"Maybe we should try to find something yellow?" Harry suggested, referring to the yellow Ben's mother always seemed to wear. He was a little taken aback to see Ben laugh instead.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing. It's just that you and practically everybody in the entire kingdom think that my mother's favorite color is yellow. I mean, I can't really blame you for it, she wears it all the time but yellow is probably her least favorite color. In fact, she hates it."

Harry's eyes widened, "No way. You're lying. Nobody can wear the color they hate  _that_ much." Ben kept laughing, "I'm serious. She thinks the color washes her out."

"So why doesn't she change the color of her clothes."

"I think she's at the point where she doesn't care enough anymore. As long as she's not walking around naked, she's good. Plus, the entire kingdom has seen her in yellow for so long, that everyone might have a short break down at seeing her in something not yellow." Ben joked.

"Then in that case, why don't we give your mom the options she never had." Harry said. Ben had a confused look on his face. "You get her a different color flower for every year she's been alive including her upcoming birthday. How old is she?" Ben let out a low, unintelligent 'uh'. 

"You don't know how old your ma is?" Harry questioned. It wasn't like he was judging. He had no idea how old his parents were. Hell, he had no idea who his mother even was and his dad could very well be over a hundred for all he knew.

"In my defense, neither does she." Ben replied, "When my mom was a baby, her father, my grandfather, Maurice, had a few little mixups with her birth certificate and the blueprints to a new invention of his. He never really went into specifics with her but last year we went with forty-one so I guess this year it's lucky number forty-two."

"Then get her forty-two flowers and a forty-third one for good luck or something. I heard something about birthday-"

"-Punches." Ben accidentally interrupted, "Yeah. I think flowers might be the better option. The two of them scoured through the plants plucking random flowers from different bouquets, arranging one of their own. After 15 minutes and a few miscounts, they finally created a colorful forty-two flowered bouquet without any yellow ones. That is until Harry came up and place a bright yellow rose in the middle, as the forty-third flower.

"Couldn't resist."

The two left the flower section and went back to the front to find Maegaery watering a small ficus tree. She must've heard their footsteps from behind, because she turned around without being called for. 

"Pretty flowers." She complimented, "You do know that you usually don't buy flowers at a greenhouse right?"

"Just because it isn't usually done, doesn't mean it can't be." Ben cheerfully supplied. Harry nodded along. "There are so many ways that sentence could be taken." Maegaery commented, "But in the honor of meeting new friends, " She nodded at Harry who smirked in reply, "I'll let you take them...for free."

"Really?" Ben asked, "I can pay." Maegaery raised a hand up to stop him from rambling. "I know you can but you won't. Just consider it a favor between friends...and go to an actual florist next time."

"But your flowers are so much better." Ben whined, fully knowing he'd come back again. "I know," She smiled, "But still." The two boys bid her thanks and goodbye (the thanks was mostly from Ben as Harry had went back to playing with plant he was playing with earlier.) before she called out to them.

"And tell Chip that he still owes me twenty dollars!"

* * *

Outside, Ben grimaced at the greying sky. "Yup, it's definitely going to rain." Ben pouted, "I really wish I had my jacket." 

Harry could admit that it had gotten a little colder outside. It was still super warm but there was a breeze that brought a slight chill to the air. He looked over at Ben who was frowning at the flowers, flicking at the petals. Harry rolled his eyes. It wasn't  _that_ cold.

"Oh for crap's sake.."Harry muttered. He didn't let himself think about it when he shrugged off his jacket and wrapped it around Ben's shoulder. Ben, who had been taken aback by yet another one of Harry's sudden intimate gestures and began to blush. Harry, who was trying his hardest not to think about how oddly fitting Ben looked in his jacket. When Ben started fidgeting, he was half worried that he'd take off the jacket in disgust, but instead Ben just adjusted the flowers in his hand to fit his arms through the sleeves. While Ben was in great shape, Harry still had him beat in the height and width department so his jacket was a little baggy on him.

_Dammit, he doesn't look half bad in my jacket. It even matches his blush a bit._

It was just a jacket. Technically, anybody could wear it. But that's the thing, he didn't  _let_ anybody else wear it. Not Uma or Gil or even his sisters. Just himself and him alone. Harry was pretty sure that most people would be frightened senseless by the thought of wearing something of his. So why in goblins name did it feel so natural to give it to Ben? And why did Ben accept it so easily?

Harry willed himself to stand there in awkward silence before Ben spoke again. "You hungry?"

"I could eat." Harry never really turned down food, the lack of it on the Isle made him grateful for whatever scraps he could get his hands on. Even if somebody else's had been on it. It was one of the few traits Harry and Gil shared.

"So could I. It just dawned on me that I haven't eaten all day. Especially since someone took the last muffin..."Ben trailed off. Harry kept his mouth shut but left a sly grin on his face.

"Is that the rumbling I've been hearing all day?" Harry teased. Ben punched him in the arm.

"It wasn't that bad but probably. Pizza?" Ben offered.

"Never had it." Ben looked flabbergasted. "How have you been in Auradon this long and not have had pizza yet?"

Harry shrugged.

"Well that settles it. We're having pizza for lunch." Ben declared, "Come on, I know the perfect place."

He hardly noticed that he'd grabbed Harry's hand. And to be frank? Neither did Harry.

* * *

By the time Ben had brought Harry over to the "perfect place" he was talking about, the sky had considerably darken. There was no doubt in Harry's mind that it was going to rain but that didn't matter as Ben rushed him inside.

It was a small place with lights strung everywhere. From Harry's place in front of the door he could see a small window into the kitchen where the food was made and lots of wooden looking chairs and tables. There was even an outside patio for people who wanted to eat outside. Though it seems like everyone had the sense to stay inside today. It wasn't very crowded. There were various groups of people eating a separate tables. Harry was glad, he had been mingling more than usual today and he wasn't exactly a people person. 

Not for most anyways.

"Welcome to Demitri's. The best pizza place in all of Auradon, in my opinion at least." Ben said, snapping Harry's attention.

"Well if it's your opinion it must be law."

"That sounds an awful lot like tyranny."

"You just can't take a joke, can you?" While he and Ben verbally sparred, Harry vaguely wondered if he should let Ben know that he was still holding Harry's hand. He doubted Ben was even aware of it seeing as his hand was being held with a very loose grip but still.

It would seem he didn't need to as a round man with a salt and pepper beard and black hair walked out of the kitchen. He was wearing a black chef's outfit and hold a meat cleaver. Harry thought the meat cleaver was the best part. Meat cleaver guy walked up to Ben before stopping and flickering his eyes towards his and Ben's somewhat interlocked hands for the quickest of seconds. It was enough for Ben to notice though because he looked down and quickly detached his hand away from Harrys murmuring a quick 'sorry.'

_"Don't be." Harry thought._

"Harry, this is Demitri, Demitri this is Harry." Ben said with a big smile.

"Ragazzo mio, cosa ti avevo detto del mio ristorante?" Demitri asked.

"Di parlare solo italiano. Scusa. Me ne ero dimenticato." Ben replied. Harry stood there confused. English being his main (only) language. And to think that Ben found pirate jargon to be confusing.

"E questo chi é? É... aspetta, come dite voi giovani d'oggi? ...il tuo nuovo ragazzo?" Demitri asked. At least, Harry thinks he asked something. Whatever it was left Ben a flustered, stuttering mess for a few seconds. Dammit! He really wished he could speak Italian right now.

"NO!" Ben fervently denied, "sai benissimo che sto ancora felicemente con Mal. É solo un amico."

"Non sapevo che gli amici si tenessero per la manina." Demitri muttered.

"Guarda che ti ho sentito."

"Era quella l'intenzione."

Ben rolled his eyes and turned his head towards Harry. "This...pepperoni is probably the best pizza maker you'll ever meet. If not the most annoying."

"Probably?" Demitri questioned with a smirk on his face, "Try definitely and boy, did you just call me a pepperoni?"

"Yes and I have no regrets."

"You should." Harry snickered, he couldn't help it, the meat cleaver guy, Demitri, was just getting better by the second.

"Didn't you just say that we have to speak Italian? You're breaking your own rule right now. " Ben rebutted, there was a pout growing on his face. Demitri waved him off before setting his sights on Harry. "Nice to meet you Harry. You do me a favor and make sure that this one doesn't choke on a pepperoni of his own...again." Harry kept laughing while Ben's mouth slightly fell open. "One time, that happened one time when I was eight!" Demitri waved him off again before returning to the kitchen.

Yup, out of everybody Harry has met today, Demitri was his favorite.

"Come on pepperoni," Harry nudged a still pouting Ben, "where can we sit?" Ben let out a small huff before leading them towards a seat next to the window. The light that shone through the window landed on bit on Ben, giving him a sort of heavenly glow but he still had a slightly devilish look about him with Harry's jacket on.

Harry decided that the pang he felt was hunger pains.

The two of them were sitting for about two minutes before Demitri came back out again holding a platter of what Harry guessed was pepperoni pizza.

"You thought I was kidding about making sure he doesn't choke?"

"One time!" Ben said. Demitri placed the platter down on the table and stood there waiting. Harry lifted an eyebrow.

"You've never been here before. I wanna see your face as you take the first bite of my pizza." Demitri answered his unasked question. Harry found his answer to only be slightly creepy. Until Ben pitched in.

"Quite frankly, I wanna see your face too." Ben admitted with a small smile. Harry looked between the two of them suspiciously before grabbing a slice and biting down.

Harry groaned.

No, Harry  _moaned._

Actually, no matter what he did, the only thing that matter was how good this pizza was. Is this the stuff that everyone goes crazy about? If so, consider him a madman.

"Oh. My. God." Harry said while chewing. Demitri started laughing while Ben sat there silent for a moment with his lips parted and a certain look in his eyes. Harry could've questioned it but he was far too invested in this pizza. Pizza took the top priority and he was okay with that.

"This boy has taste!" Demitri praised, "While this one," he gestured to Ben, "Found a new mall to shop at or something?"

"Thank you for the pizza Demitri." Ben replied, trying to politely dismiss him. Demitri looked between the two of them for a moment before walking away. To Harry, it sounded like he muttered something along the lines of  _voi due siete...something._ But it wasn't like Harry spoke Italian.

"Good food?" Ben asked as Harry dove for a second slice.

"Great food."

And the view wasn't so bad either.

* * *

Between the two of them, Ben and Harry had devoured three platters of pizza. All successfully without Ben choking. Demitri was pleased and even sent the both of them home with small to-go boxes. If Chad touched his pizza, Harry swears to everything good and bad that he will mysteriously not have a roommate anymore.

While they were eating the sky's had gotten considerably darker. They decided that it would be a good idea to leave before they got caught in the rain. Plus, it was about 2:00 and Mal and the other's got out at 3:00. 

Harry tried not to scowl at that. 

They lasted about eight minutes and not even halfway back to the school before it started pouring on them. Harry, who was much more used to the bad weather, wasn't as affected by it. Ben on the other hand, looked like a soaked puppy. Ben punched him every time he laughed at him.

It only made Harry laugh harder.

By the time the two arrived at school, it was about ten minutes to three and they were drenched. The rain didn't show any sign of stopping soon and only came down harder. Ben led Harry to a school pathway that had a roof over it.

" _It's not raining,_ he said." Ben mimicked while shaking out his hair.

"That was then and this is now." Harry rebutted. Ben scoffed and held up the bouquet. "At least the flowers made it."

"But aren't those for Chip?" Harry started, "You didn't get anything for yourself." Maybe there was still time to go to a nearby store or something...

"In all honesty, I couldn't think of anything to buy."

"Maybe you don't need to." At the sound of Ben's silence, Harry pressed on. "Back at Demitri's you said that your dad bought your mom something amazing. That's fine but maybe you don't have to buy her something too. Maybe you show her something that hits a little closer to home."

Ben stood there silent for a minute letting the rain speak for him before a small smile eased onto his face. "That's a good idea. Thanks Harry."

"Just add to the list of things I'm good at."

"I see modesty isn't on it."

"So you admit there is a list." Harry pointed out. He expected another punch but Ben just kept laughing. "Seriously though. Thank you." Harry shrugged but watched as Ben plucked the yellow rose from the middle of the bouquet and offered it to him. "A token of my appreciation."

"What about your mom's extra good luck?" Harry teased. Ben snorted, "I think she'll understand. Plus, that can be Chip's problem." Harry hesitated for a moment before accepting the flower from Ben and twirling the stem in his hand.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Ben suddenly looked down to find his shoes very interesting while Harry looked out to one of the many nearby gardens. The grey undertone that the rain provided made the flowers stand out more. Surprisingly, (but less so as of late) he found himself rather content with this moment. Until the school bell rang snapping both boys out of whatever mood they had.

"Well," Ben started off awkwardly, "I guess that's my cue. I better go to my room and change into something dry before I meet up with everybody. I'll see you around. Thanks for coming with me."

"What're sword teachers for?"

"Better yet, what're friends for?" Ben smiled before taking his leave, leaving alone Harry with rain and daisy. 

Harry watched as Ben disappeared around a corner to chase after his friends.

To chase after Mal.

Harry let himself grimace at the thought just this once.

He earned it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Out of character is my greatest fear...that and a rushed plot.
> 
> Fun Fact: Demitri is a good friend of Lumière's. 
> 
> Ben and Demitri's conversation in order:  
> D: My boy, what did I tell you about my restaurant?  
> B:To speak only Italian. My bad, I forgot.  
> D: Who's this? Is he...what do you children say these days...your new main squeeze?  
> B: NO! You know I'm still happily with Mal. He's just a friend.  
> D: I did not know that friends were holding hands.  
> B: Heard that.  
> D: You were meant to.
> 
> What Harry thinks he heard:  
> D: You two are clueless.
> 
> I used google translate for this. I know google translate is shit but I don't really have any other options. If you read this and you speak/are Italian and are offended/see something that's wrong, please tell me what I can do to fix it. Offense was never my intention.
> 
> Okay, I think that's it. I'm gonna go sleep for a year now.


	14. The Beast Within

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "There's a beast running wild, there's no question
> 
> But I fear the wrong monster's released."
> 
> -Beauty and The Beast

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Such lovely comments. Thank you. ENJOY!

_A little boy sat crying in the corner of the room. Another little girl saw him._

_"Why are you crying?" The little girl asked. The little boy with brown hair wiped his eyes with his pudgy hands but continued to weep. "Nobody will play with me."_

_"Why?" She asked curiously. He shrugged, "They say I am scary." he whispered low, ashamed, scared. What if he was scary?_

_"I'M NOT SCARY!" The little boy cried out in fear._

_"Okay." She said. He stared at her, still crying, but more curious then sad. She had long black hair. "Pretty hair." He complimented._

_She smiled, "Thank you. My mommy says that when I am bigger I can do whatever I want with it!"_

_"My mommy says that when I get bigger, I will be big and powerful...but nice. Always remember to be nice." He repeated. The little girl nodded, following his words, but not really. Either way, the two were content in sitting there until the little girl spoke up._

_"Let's go play with the toy swords!" She exclaimed, excitedly, ready to wobble off to find the toys but she stopped when she saw that her new friend wasn't moving. His eyes looked wet again._

_The little boy shook his head, "No one will play with me." He repeated, he was sad again._

_"Oh." She said, before plopping down in front of him. He was surprised, he was worried she would run away, like everyone else._

_"Can I play with you?" The black haired girl asked. The little boy's eyes widened but he nodded. Brown hair flopping with his head._

_"I'm Lonnie!" She said, extending her hand, "This is what my mommy says that bigger people do." He looked at her hand curiously before grabbing her thumb and shaking her hand. His mommy said something about it too but he was not paying much attention._

_"I'm Ben."_

* * *

"En garde!" 

The two opponents twisted and turned as they tried to out last each other. Fighting with a balance of offense and defense. Swords clashed against each other in a duel.

A mock duel that is.

Lonnie and Ben were in the R.O.A.R gym testing out how advanced Ben was after his classes with Harry. It was 7:30 am and school hadn't even started yet. The two had no idea why they woke up so early considering they were far from morning people but figured that this would be a good way to kill time and calories.

Before, Ben would last five to ten minutes before being unarmed by Lonnie, but this time it took her a solid half hour to defeat him and only because he tripped trying to parry to avoid her lunge.

"Nice job!" Lonnie praised as she took off her fencing mask, "Looks like your lessons with Harry are doing the trick. What's his secret?"

"Confusing lingo and sea jokes." Ben jested, taking off his own mask. "He's a good teacher."

"I can tell." Lonnie said. The two of them stood there slightly awkward as Lonnie looked around the room, making a point to avoid Ben's eyes. A very obvious point.

"Something you wanna talk about?" Ben inquired, reposition the mask under his left arm.

"Not really, actually, that's a lie. It's a small thing, a tiny thing, minuscular, microscopic-"

"LONNIE!" Ben interrupted in order for his friend to get back on track. "How come you were wearing Harry's jacket yesterday? Not judging just...curious." Ben felt a fresh blush bloom onto his face at the blunt question. He ground his teeth together at answering the question. It's not like they did anything bad. It's not like they did anything at all but still, the question felt oddly personal.

His jaw hurt now. 

"Ben?" Lonnie asked, "You okay? You look like I just accused you of a capital crime."

_Kind of feels like you did._

"Uh, it was nothing. After the council meeting me and Harry agreed to go out in town to buy some things. It rained and I forgot my jacket so he gave me his. A sign of good will I'm sure." Ben quickly answered. He didn't know why he felt so nervous, that's literally all that happened, omitting certain details of course. He had a vague memory of possibly grabbing his hand but he saved that thought for another time. Still, now his hands felt all weird and tingly and he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

"What'd you guys go shopping for?"

"My mom's birthday gift. Last minute shopping and all that." Ben smiled at the teasing 'tsk, tsk' Lonnie gave him and lightly hit her with the tip of his sword. "You guys get anything good?"

"Just a ton of flowers but those are mostly for slash from Chip. I have different plans in mind for my mom's gift." Lonnie waited a minute expecting him to clarify. She was kind of surprised when he didn't.

"And you're not gonna tell me what it is?" She gasped with fake offense.

"You gotta keep some things secret and sacred." Lonnie shrugged in defeat, "By the way, I just thought that I'd ask about the jacket since I saw you run across campus with it on and I recognized it as Harry's from the meeting. I gotta say, you looked pretty cute with it on. The soaked puppy look only added to your adorableness." Would you look at that, Ben's blush was back with a full force but he vaguely wondered if it went away in the first place.

"Don't be so bashful, that's Doug's uncle's job. Anyways, have you thought anymore about the Summerlands festival? It's in a couple of days and if you wanna go, you have to let me know now...HINT. HINT."

In all honesty, Ben had completely forgotten about the Summerlands festival. In his defense, he's been busy with all the regular excuses (school work, king work, etc.) and the new added additions of the Sea Three and his new swords teacher/friend. Besides, he hadn't even been old enough to go (according to his parents) until this year.

"I don't know Lonnie, I'm not sure we could pull it off this year." Ben's mood saddened as he watched his friend's face fall, "It's not that I don't want to but there's so much planning and so little time. Where would we go? Where would we stay? Who's coming with? Who's staying behind? Will someone take my place as a stand in? What if-"

Lonnie cut him off with a slash of her hands. "Don't stress about that. As one of your ambassadors, don't you think that I have things covered? But if you're so worried; We'd probably stay at a resort, goodness knows that you're welcomed everywhere, we would check out as many celebrations as we can. Who wouldn't come with us? There would of course be you, me, Mal, Evie, Jay and Carlos, Jane is probably coming too and whoever else gets invited. The people staying behind are the people who weren't mentioned I suppose and I'm sure the kingdom won't burn to the ground if you're gone for one weekend."

While Lonnie made very good points, Ben couldn't help but worry. He couldn't help it, he thinks he gets it from his mom's side of the family. Especially his grandfather. "What about Harry and Uma and Gil? Harry's my, let's be honest here, assistant and their his friends. If I took him, I'd have to take them all because there's no way he's leaving them behind for any length of time, especially on short notice."

Lonnie shrugged again, "So bring all of them, I'm sure there will be more than enough space."

"You're telling me that you want to put my girlfriend and our friends and Uma and her friends all in a confined space for over seventy-two hours?" Ben asked in a flat and disbelieving tone. 

"Well when you put it like that you make it sound like survival of the fittest which...it kind of is but still, I'm sure this trip would do more good than harm for everyone involved. You and I and the VK's get a break from life and The Sea Three get to see more of the country that they've never seen before. They didn't trade imprisonment on the Isle for being stuck in Auradon Prep only. You want to show them goodness and freedom of choice? Why not start here?"

Damn her when she made sense.

Ben let out a long exhale as he racked his brain for possible reasons not to go and honestly? He couldn't find any. Yes, there were risks but the possible rewards outweighed those risks. No councilmen yipping at his heels ( I.e, Prince Phillip) or teachers droning on about homework and he's sure that his friends would appreciate it too. Except Carlos but he could always bring along an extra science book or two to keep himself satisfied. Most importantly, Uma and her friends would be exposed to more of the world which might lead to a tentative slow growing bond between all of them. Or at least keep the two rival gangs from almost attacking each other in the hallways. Though he heard from Mal that things might slowly be getting better so that was a start.

Ben sought Lonnie's eyes and saw all the life buzzing inside them as she waited for his answer. He could practically smell her excitement.

Sense her excitement.

That was weird.

"...I'm so going to regret this." He muttered to himself, "Okay fine", he said louder now, "We'll go." Lonnie squealed as she dropped her stuff and hugged him. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! You will not regret this, we are going to have so much fun!"

"With you planning it, I don't doubt that but if we're leaving this Thursday, everything  _has_ to be ready by then or all the fun will be over before it even starts. Are you sure you can handle that?"

"Do I look like a stone dragon to you? Of course I can handle it! You just make sure that you get Mal and the others on board along with Uma and her friends."

Ben watched as Lonnie picked up her stuff and headed for the exit. He fell in step behind her rather quickly. There was just one last thing that felt...off.

His jaw still hurt.

* * *

The class let out a collective groan and for once, Ben's own voice was among them. 

He was in a shared class with everyone.  _Everyone._ Mal, Uma, Evie, Carlos, Harry, Jay and Gil. Not to mention Jane, Lonnie, Audrey, Doug and Chad. It was Fairytale History and it very well may be one of his favorite classes.

Except for right now.

Now don't get him wrong. Ben loves love. For goodness sake, his parents are some of the top mascots on how love can change the world for the better.

And that's exactly the problem.

He's heard all the stories so many times. Especially  _Beauty and The Beast_. Ben's pretty sure that there's no variation of any and every fairytale that he hasn't heard already. And he's sure that the entire class feels the same. Even his friends and Uma's friends and that's saying something.

"Calm down, calm down. We aren't going to be rehashing all of the stories, instead, we're going to pick apart the common concepts and tropes behind them." The teacher reassured. If you listened closely, you could hear her Scottish accent, not that she was trying to hide it much.

"Now, we can all agree that love is pretty common right? In fact, it's the main driving force. Why?" Mrs. Elinor scanned the room to choose a raised hand, "Doug?"

"Because love is supposed to help make the world a better place?"

"True, but not quite. Audrey?" Audrey cleared her throat as if she were ready to make a grand announcement, "Love is depicted as the thing that acts as a driving force for two lovers to overcome anything...even if they're apart." She finished her answer by blowing a kiss at Ben. He wasn't quite sure who snorted first, himself or his various friends.

"Closer but still not there. Hmm..." Mrs. Elinor scanned the room a second time before her eyes landed on a certain leather-clad boy, "Harry?" Harry's eyes shot up and he gave her a glare only for her to give one back. His glare morphed into a smirk and hers turn into almost a bear-like smile...if bears can smile. Can bears smile?

Ben would have to look that up later.

"Well?" She asked expectantly, accent heavier than usual, "Do ye have anything?"

Harry let out a sigh before dropping his hands to his lap and leaning back into his chair.  "I suppose...that love is so prevalent because...it's supposed show that no matter what situation you're in, no matter who you are, if you have enough love to give and receive, you can find the strength within yourself to overcome any curse or wicked stepmother or anything. All it takes is one person to really open your eyes. Rich or poor, good or...evil. And if you try to get in the way of that love, well it has a way of catching up with you."

The whole class fell into silence as they turn to look at Harry. Including Ben, who couldn't help but notice that Harry was wearing one of his sleeveless red coats today,

His cheeks flared up and possibly the tips of his ears too. Except, that was normal, the teeth grinding and hands tingling was new. Good thing, everybody was looking at Harry and not him.

Mrs. Elinor broke the silence by clapping her hands in pride, "Yes, yes, yes! You've got it. Or more accurately, you've got the grasp of it. I think love is one of those things under the sun that can't be accurately explained to a 'T', only felt. But I do want to talk about one particular thing you said, which was something around the lines of all it takes is one person to love you right?"

Harry nodded.

"I disagree...kind of, anyone know why?" The class all looked at her with blank expressions, "Alright, I'll throw you all a bone this time. While in Fairytales, despite the protagonist being surrounded by no love or all types of love, it always takes that one person to really inspire all that emotion inside someone else which is where Harry is half right. Problem is, those are just Fairytales, the summarized, all's well that end's well versions of life. I know some of you are the children of the people in some very well known Fairytales." She shot an unsubtle look to Audrey and Ben, "And I know that you can attest to the fact that some of these Fairytales are not 100 percent correct. And that's because this is real life, where you don't need to depend on one person to able to love or be loved by."

Audrey's hand shot up into the air, "Does that mean that you're saying that there's no such thing as true love?"

Mrs. Elinor's eyes widened, "Oh heavens no! True love is very much a thing that exists both the real world and Fairytales. What I'm trying to tell you is that there is more than one type of true love and more than one person who can give it to you."

"Care to clarify?" Mal asked, forgetting to raise her hand.

"Whenever I try to think the grand scheme of love, I like to think of a quote I once heard,  _"Often our first love is when we are young. It's the idealistic love - the one that seems like the fairytales we read as children. The second is supposed to be our hard love - The one that teaches us lessons about who we are and how we want to be loved. This is the kind of love that hurts. The third is the love we never see coming - This is the love that comes so easy it doesn't seem possible. It's the kind where our connection can't be explained and knocks us off our feet because we didn't plan for it. This is the love where we just come together with someone and it just fits."_

"Who said that?" Evie asked. Mrs. Elinor shrugged, "I have no idea but it kind of takes the pressure off, knowing that there's more than one kind of person that you're able to love. Not to mention friendly and familial love."

"Do we all experience that kind of love in that order?" Carlos asked with a quick glance at Jane.

"No. Or at least, probably not. To be completely honest, most of us only experience one or maybe two of those types of loves and rarely in that order. But there are the few that do and they're the truly lucky ones even if they don't realize it yet."

A dozen more hands rose into the air with unanswered questions about the new, yet familiar topic but then the lunch bell rang.

"Alright, that's lunch. The lot of ye scatter!" Mrs. Elinor dismissed with a smile, and scatter they did.

* * *

"Jay, I bet that this time, you couldn't hold down a combo of relish, mustard and mayo." Carlos bet.

"Oh bring it on!" Jay accepted his challenge and stood up to get the condiments until Evie's hand caught his own and pulled him back down, "Enough of the condiment milkshakes!" Evie said, "Last time you got it all over my new purse which had all of my Calculus notes in it!"

"Your fault for taking Calculus." Jay muttered as he re-adjusted in his seat. Evie back-handed him on the arm. They were all outside eating lunch on a bench under a particularly large willow tree for shade. Ben hadn't even bitten into his sandwich yet when he saw that Lonnie was giving him 'the look' across from him.

The 'what the heck are you waiting for, tell them about the Summerlands Festival before I kill you with your own sandwich' look.

Ben swallowed down one bite of his sandwich. It was an oddly hard thing to do. For some reason, his gums were throbbing. If he wasn't sixteen, he'd say he was teething.

"So guys, there's this celebration that's coming up this weekend that's only here for a really short time. It's called the Summerlands Festival and I was wondering if you'd all like to come?"

The six others at the table, excluding Lonnie, looked around at each other before agreeing unanimously. "Sounds like fun Ben, when is it?" Carlos asked.

"Well it starts on Friday which means we would have to leave Thursday night and we'd be back by Monday morning." 

"What goes on during the festival?" Mal asked beside him, snacking on strawberries and the rest of his sandwich.

"Honestly, I don't know much since I've never even been before. All I know is that there's a lot of food, music, art, dancing and wine...lots and lots of wine."

"Sounds like my kind of party!" Jay preened before biting into his burger.

"Do we have permission from Fairy Godmother to go?" Doug asked. It was Ben's turn to give Lonnie 'The Look'. "Yes." She answered, "I'm taking care of mostly everything so come to me with any questions. And also, this is the most important, you absolutely have to be packed and ready by 10:30 pm on Thursday night. Check in with all of your teachers, take a nap, pack, do whatever you need to do to get ready because once we leave, we don't come back till Monday."

The table chatted about travel plans and activities to do and Ben happily joined in, refraining from talking to much because,  _damn_ , not only did his gums throb but his jaws still ached. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Harry join Gil and Uma at a table that was very well shaded by trees, making them blend in with the darkness.

"I'll be right back." Ben said to the table. Before they could ask why, he had already pecked Mal on the forehead and headed towards Harry's table.

"Hey guys!" Ben greeted. He was met with a curious look from Harry, a glare from Uma and a big and bright smile from Gil.

"HI BEN!" Gil greeted back happily as he slurped down his chocolate milkshake. His third milkshake. Today. Within twenty minutes.

Doug had accidentally created a bit of a milkshake monster.

"Do you guys mind if I borrow Harry for a second please? I have something to return to him." Uma raised an eyebrow at Harry only for Harry to shrug and smirk in return. Harry stuffed the last remaining pizza in his mouth, wiped his hands and put his hat back on before getting up and facing Ben.

"Lead the way Beastie."

* * *

 When Harry had agreed to go with Ben, he didn't quite know what to expect. But he did know that he was missing a jacket. He only really realized after he got back to his dorm and had put the flower Ben had given him into a jar filled with water and into their mini fridge because, yes, that's a thing that Chad and him have and Harry doesn't know anything about plants.

At first, Harry thought that Ben was leading him into his office but was surprised when Ben took a few different turns and led them to a different room.

"I left it in my room amongst other things." Ben said as he open the two doors that led to his room. Harry hovered outside in the hallway expecting Ben to just come back out with his jacket until he saw Ben usher him inside.

Harry wasn't sure what he expected when he first walked in but at the moment he was stuck between awestruck and completely unsurprised. Two very conflicting, very different emotions.

It was starting to become something he was slowly getting used to.

Ben's room was easily twice the size of his own dorm, maybe even three times the size. Perks of being the king he supposed. The top half of the walls were cream colored while the second half contrasted in a nice darker brown. The floor was navy blue with various tan patterns on it and there were two very large windows on Harry's left and the dark blue curtains were flowing with the breeze. There were a couple of dressers, a large desk and...some type of large object with with handles sticking out of it. Harry thinks he's heard of it before.

It was like a football table or something.

Overall it was...a bedroom. With a giant plasma screen TV that Chad would cry actual tears for and couches almost as big as his bed.

Speaking of Ben's bed, that was one of, if not the only, things that kept Harry's attention. It probably said something about his personality.

Harry internally shrugged.

It was large and surprisingly, unmade. The post of the bed was brown but everything else was a different shade of blue. The pillows and sheets were light blue while the blankets and comforter, (Harry still can't difference between the two) were a darker blue.

What was up with Auradon and the color blue? He could relate to the color because that's the color of the sea but there's gotta be a line somewhere. But there's one more thing that clings onto Harry's attention...

It looked so  _comfortable._

If he thought hard enough he could almost imagine Ben lying there, dead to the world, snuggled up in his bed looking like a sleeping puppy because it's  _Ben._

Harry stops before zeroing in his focus on Ben talking and only him talking. Almost as if he's worried that someone could here his thoughts because...it's  _Auradon._

Land of the magical and freaky.

Of beasts, pirates and other mythical creatures. 

"...and I just wanna apologize again because it's your jacket and you gave me it to help me out and I didn't return it and it's gotta be one of your favorites since you're always wearing it-" Ben's babble was cut off by Harry waving both of his hands.

"Hate to break it to you but I barely heard a word you said. What are you apologizing about?" Harry asked.

"Your jacket." Harry's eyes flittered over to the nearby armchair that had his jacket resting upon it neatly folded. He thinks that is the first time he's ever seen it like that. The thought that Ben was probably so meticulous about his jacket brought a mischievous grin to his face that he was almost able to force down.

What was up with him and not being able to control his facial expressions lately? If he was back on The Isle, he'd be fish food by now. It was a constant nagging thought. In the corner of his eye he spied Ben's crown sitting on top of one of his drawers. He smirk lazily at Ben before sauntering over to it. "My, my, is that the crown just laying about? How irresponsible of you Beastie." Harry teased while picking up the crown and spinning it on his fingers.

"Not exactly. It's a replica for show. The only difference is the order of the gems. The real one is hidden away saved for very special occasions." Ben explained. Harry let out a low hum before taking off his own pirate hat and placing the crown on his head. He put his hat on another nearby chair. He looked over at Beastie with a 'ta-da' gesture. "How do I look?"

"Like royalty." Ben answered without a beat.

"Damn straight." Harry agreed before taking off the crown and putting it back in his place. It was a nice crown, the first and only he's ever seen but it's not quite his head size or his taste. He rather leather fabric than sparkly gems. "Where would you keep the real one? In the fancy museum?" He innocently asked. He had to do this. He  _had_ to.

"I'll never tell." Ben said, assuming nothing was amiss. Harry wasn't sure if the brief relief he felt was from the fact that Ben hadn't given him a solid answer or the fact that no solid answer probably meant that he was right. And if was right and the crown was there than other important items would be too.

Other important,  _powerful_ items.

But it didn't matter. As far as Harry was concerned, he'd done his daily dose of evil.

"Well", Harry began changing the subject back to the previous, "If you're still apologizing don't stop on my account. In fact, maybe you should add a little something extra to make the apology that much sweeter."

A disbelieving smirk grew on Ben's face. "You have anything in mind?"

"How about we change my name from Your Highness's royal assistant number three to...Your Royal Godliness in Everything Sword and Sea-like." Harry said with a show of his hands.

"You don't want anything shorter?" Ben asked. Harry was glad to see him playing along so he shook his head.

"How about Your Royal Godliness in All Things Tomfoolery-like." Ben prompted. Harry made an uncommitted noise. "Can't. Gil already called dibs."

"I'm sure we can think of something." Ben said.

"...Like?" An outsider would've noticed that during their little banter, Harry and Ben had naturally taken one step closer to each other until there was barley a foot of space between them. Harry however, did notice only because he'd never been this close to Ben's eyes before. He'd never noticed before that they were hazel gree.

And they were so pretty. Harry wasn't used to pretty things. Especially pretty things that weren't him. He snapped himself out of it...again. Twice in a row, was he going for some type of self-made record?"

"How about we start off with my jacket?" Harry offered. He didn't want to kill the mood but the mood was killing him. He had to create some distance before he did something rash and emotional...or at least more so than usual.

It looked like a lightbulb went off in Ben's head as his usual blush appeared on his cheeks. "Oh right! Your jacket! It's right here." Ben turned around to pick up the jacket from the chair behind him and handed it to Harry. Or at least he almost did before pulling his hands away. "How about a trade?"

Before Harry could answer, Ben shoved the jacket in his hands and went for his pirates hat before placing it on his head and stepping out of Harry's reach towards his bed. "What do you say? Do I look like a real pirate yet?" Harry barked out a laugh, "Almost. You're missing the eyepatch love."

"How could I forget? That's gotta be like Pirates 101."

"That and wooden limbs." Harry retorted. He was trying to keep up conversation while systematically working his way over to Ben as subtly as he could without raising the other boy's suspicions.

"Should it be an arm or a leg?"

"Why not both?"

"What do you think?" Ben asked, "Should I place the order for wood prosthetics now?"

"Sure, after you give me back my hat." By now, Harry was less than a fourth away from Ben. "You're gonna have to fight me for it." Harry raised his eyebrows in surprise and let out a short piece of surprised laughter. "Did you miss the thing about me being God-like in everything to do with swords?"

"Did you miss the thing about the student becoming the master?" Ben teased. Harry shook his head, "Not today." He made those few final strides reaching for his hat when suddenly a pillow obstructed his view...and his cheek.

Harry looked from Ben's grinning face to the pillow in his hands. He was flabbergasted. Did he really just get assaulted by a pillow? Ben's laughter interrupted his thoughts. "Oh man, your face!" Ben said between laughs.

"It's about to be your face in a minute." Without a second thought, Harry grabbed a nearby pillow and hit Ben in the legs with it. He was aiming for his face when Ben, still a laughing mess, tumbled over his bed to the other side. Luckily, Harry's reflexes weren't for just sword fights. He quickly went after Ben successfully tackling them both to the ground where he pinned Ben where he lay and attacked him with feathers.

"Still. The. Sword. Master." Harry said between hits. Ben wiggled underneath him trying to get free but his own laughter subdued him. "Alright, alright. I concede. PARLAY!" After a few more hits, Harry finally stopped but he didn't get up. The thought of doing so hadn't even crossed his mind yet.

"You can add Skilled Pillow Fighter to my title too." Harry gloated.

"Ok. I'm man enough to know when I've lost." The hat was still barely perched on Ben's head. Harry could admit (to himself and himself only) that it looked rather good on him and almost imagined Ben dressed in the full jacket and hat together until he killed the thought.

He really needs to pull himself together. He was supposed to string Ben like a puppet, not the other way around.

"Where'd you get it?" Ben asked, calming down and motioning to the hat. Harry briefly wondered if Ben had realized that Harry was still on top of him in a rather scandalous (for Auradon) position. With Harry's hovering over Ben and his legs practically straddling the sides of Ben's hips and what not. Oh well, it wasn't like Harry was going to be the one to bring it up.

"Um...I have no idea where my hat is from. I actually wasn't the one who got it. Gil was. He got Uma's too." It had been a bit of a surprise. After Mal had abandoned Uma (something Uma refuses to talk much about lately...or ever) she had been a loner, snapping at anyone who tried to get near her. Harry being Harry couldn't give a shit about her bark or her bite but he did come to respect it. After a few weeks of unrelenting flirting from his side, they grew on each other. 

When Uma had made it known that she wanted to be a pirate, a captain no less, they made their own small little crew. Their rivalry for captain had made things interesting but deep _deep_ down Harry think they both knew that that title was meant for Uma. When their crew had started to build Gil came in as one of the earliest members. They all already knew each other long before that but the pirate ship and thirst for revenge and mayhem brought them closer together. Gil showed that he had more to bring to the table than brawn and eggs and 'The Sea Three', as Harry heard them be called, had been born. One day out of the blue after Uma and Harry had been arguing over their 'Captain' status, Gil came into Ursula's shop and plopped two hats in front of both of them.

_There. Now you both can be captains. Who says a ship only needs one?_

They both wore it everyday ever since.

"That was nice of him." Ben commented. Harry nodded, "Yeah, out of all of us he's the nicest. He's so strong yet so soft. I think Auradon is much better for him than the Isle. Hell, I think Auradon is much better for everyone than the Isle."  _Minus their parents_ went unsaid.

"I genuinely don't know the right answer to that." Ben admitted.

"Good thing it wasn't a question." Harry snapped defensively. It almost sounded like Ben pitied him and King or not, nobody pitied him. However, Ben barely seemed fazed. "What was it like? Growing up on the Isle?"

Harry sighed before answering, "I don't know how you grew up here but for us it was pretty average. Everyday had grey skies. Cold days and freezing nights especially if you lived near the water which I did in case you were wondering and I know you were. Devil forbid there was a storm, the streets would be flooded for a month with even more trash floating around than usual. There were petty crimes and there were your major crimes with everybody trying to top one another. Went to school if I felt like it, caused mayhem anytime I wanted to and broke hearts and noses everywhere. Did that for about seventeen years."

"Do you like it here? Is there anything you would like to change? Anything you miss?"

Harry ignored the first question, "Well you already know how I feel about the sun." Ben huffed out a laugh, "Anything less climatic?" 

"Wouldn't mind having my hook back." Almost on instinct he looked at his left hand. It had been quite a while since he'd held his hook but it still felt like a phantom limb.

"I'm sorry you don't have it. How'd you get your hook?" Harry stilled where he was. He would've shifted if he hadn't remembered last second that he was still technically in Ben's lap. The wicked thought alone brought him back to reality. "My dad."

"He gave it to you?" Ben's eyes were full of wonder and inquiry. How could he not answer him? No seriously, heavy topics weren't fun to deal with.

"I guess you could say that." Harry begrudgingly started,  "It was one of his earlier ones that had managed to survive through time and rust. Every time he went off about that bastardly Peter Pan he'd wave it in the air like madman as he went on about his adventures chasing the original Lost Boy. I never told him this because I valued my life but when I was younger being a Lost Boy sounded even better than being a pirate. Not because of all the adventures, though that was a huge plus, but because they were free and I wasn't. Back to story, one day I just took it while it was laying around on his desk. Smee was meant to polish it but I got to it before he could. I don't know what possessed me to take it but I did. And I nearly got skinned alive for it but for some reason he let me keep it. There was a price though, every time he saw me with it he mocked me for trying to be a wannabe pirate and that I couldn't handle it. So I kept it and I handled it."

He didn't specify what  _it_ was but Harry had the feeling that he didn't have to. That was supposed to be a one word answer, Harry had no idea how it turned into a full blown backstory but as he looked back down at Ben (because while he was speaking he somehow ended up looking at the wall) he was staring back, eyes full of understanding about something he would hopefully never have to understand. In a moment of silence, Ben stared at Harry while Harry stared at Ben. His eyes were still hazel green.

Still pretty.

Although apparently Ben could only take so much of his face heating up before he broke the silence, "Well, I'm no expert but I think you make or grammatically speaking, would make an amazing pirate." He complimented honestly, "Minus the plundering and stuff." Ben added as an afterthought.

"Way to take the fun out of it." Harry teased. Ben shrugged and once again they were plunged back into silence but it was a comfortable silence. The room only filled with the wind and the sound of their breathing. Harry was still on Ben's lap and there was no way the other boy didn't notice by now which is why the blush is still going strong but yet, neither one moved.

A plethora of things could've happened in the next moment yet the thing that did was something that never even crossed Harry's mind once.

Someone else coming inside.

A loud, abrupt, rapid set of knocks rattled the both of them. Instinctively, Harry rolled off of Ben and the two of them stood up. Harry's hat fell off Ben's head but Harry's mind was a little preoccupied to focus on that.

"W-who is it?" Ben stuttered out trying to regain stability. Harry was with him, his legs kind of fell asleep which made him wonder just how long they'd been in here.

"Ben! It's us! You gotta come back to the cafeteria now!" The voice called out. Why did it sound so familiar?

"Carlos?" Ben asked as he speed walked to the door. Harry decided it would be better, smarter, to be a few paces behind him to be unseen by the VK. He grabbed his jacket, the one Ben had borrowed, in the meantime.

"Carlos, Jane? What are you guys doing here?" Ben took in the sight of his two friends in front of him. They looked out of breath but Jane was slightly worse for wear bending over with her hands on her knees trying to regain breath. Carlos was panting but still talking. His sentence came in fragments. "Mal-Audrey-Cafeteria-NOW!" Before Ben could even decipher what that could mean, Carlos and Jane had already grabbed his hands in an attempt to lead him back left Harry in the room alone. Meanwhile, Harry squashed down his knee-jerk reaction to follow trouble and counted to thirty before grabbing his jacket and running out the door.

Okay, maybe it was really ten seconds but he'd always been bad with numbers.

* * *

The cafeteria was in utter pandemonium.

Outside the students were spilt into two sides. One much larger than the other. It was filled with the students who had gone to Auradon Prep most of their lives and at the front of it was Audrey who looked more red and flustered than Ben had seen since he sang in front of Mal.

On the other, admittedly smaller side, was Mal and her friends along with Lonnie and other students that were backing Mal and the other up. Mal was at the forefront heatedly arguing with Audrey. Even from a distance Ben could tell that Mal was itching to let her dragon wings fly. Ben quickly scoped the scene in front of him praying to any god anywhere that Uma and Gil were not involved. From what he could see, they weren't which brought him some relief. Audrey vs. Mal he can handle. Uma vs. Mal? Not so much.

Lunch trays were discarded on the floor. Food littered across the glass. Mal looked like she had spaghetti noodles on her shoulders, down her back and entangled in her hair and her green eyes flickered in and out. Audrey looked slightly worse for wear as she had a large brown stain down the front of her peach dress. He hoped it was chocolate but thank goodness it wasn't see through. On the bright side she had Chad's jacket over her shoulder as a sense of modesty. On the bad side, Chad being Chad was right there next to Audrey ready...to well be Chad.

Lonnie was up there right next to Mal and Evie was right beside her fighting the crowd with words. Ben watched as they passionately waved their hands in the air while speaking as if to make a point. Jay was smack in the middle playing mediator trying to keep Mal from attacking Audrey and vice versa. Doug had been beside Chad trying to get him to back off before things escalated even more.

Ben hardly registered Jane and Carlos tugging at his hands or Dude nipping at his feet. Everything was too loud but not clear. His girlfriend and his ex-girlfriend were fighting and over half the school looked ready to drive his friends out with pitchforks and torches. He naively hoped that everybody was past the whole "villain kid" thing. So what if you had different parents than everybody else? It didn't define who  _you_ were.

Dear god, villain kids. Harry immediately popped into his mind. He'd left him back in his room and after such an emotion baring conversation which Ben knew had to be hard for him. He hoped he was okay and not feeling betrayed or anything like that. Part of the reason of why he didn't move was because he didn't want to break the air of very sensitive new-found trust.

His mind focused back on the present. The fight was escalating. While Ben knew that Jay was strong (Tourney practice brutally showed him that) even he couldn't hold off two opposing mobs forever. Besides, he looked like he was starting to loose himself to the intensity to the fight, yelling more and more to the other side. Ben was surprised and proud that Jay was able to keep himself together this long. 

When Carlos and Jane took him just before the fight everything got ten times worse. Someone from Audrey's crowd had thrown what looked like mashed potatoes and it landed right on Evie's face.

"GO BACK TO THE ISLE ISLAND TRASH!" 

And then all hell broke loose.

Mal's eyes were glowing in full intensity. Jay had stopped holding back the girls preferring to find the one who said that to Evie, to all of them. Lonnie was in her fight stance. Even Doug looked like he might have to resort to tackling Chad to keep him from doing something stupid.

Ben just stood there. Shocked.

It was so loud. So much negative energy. His mother told him something about this once. About how angry mobs had formed so quickly in order to stop the "vicious beast" that was led by the infamous Gaston. Belle had talked about how the rage from the crowd fed her rage to stop them, to protect her father, to protect her newfound love. 

_Through the mist, through the woods_

  
_Through the darkness and the shadows_

  
_It's a nightmare, but it's one exciting ride_

  
_Say a prayer, then we're there_

  
_At the drawbridge of a castle_

  
_And there's something truly terrible inside_

  
_It's a beast he's got fangs, razor sharp ones_

  
_Massive paws, killer claws for the feast_

  
_Hear him roar, see him foam_

  
_But we're not coming home 'til he's dead_

  
_Good and dead!_

So many emotions. So many voices. Ben could barely hear himself think but he could feel his hands throbbing. Teeth aching. Heart pumping.

 _stop!_ That was pathetic! Did he even say that out loud?

 _Stop!_ He was a king for crying out loud. Calming the masses was supposed to be part of his job.

 _STOP!_ If his father could do this why couldn't he? If his father could face an even bigger mob and win why couldn't he? God, his head felt like it was about to explode.

_We don't like what we don't understand in fact it scares us_

 

 

_And this monster is mysterious at least_

_Bring your guns bring your knives_

_Save your children and your wives_

_We'll save our village and our lives_

_We'll kill the Beast!_

Ben didn't know what happened next but there was a flash of people in front of him and then both Mal and Audrey were on the ground on opposite sides. Something bad would happen soon.

It's too much right now. Using words didn't feel real. The most he could do was growl.

_STOP._

There's silence.

And a calm washes over Ben.

The students have stopped fighting and are starting to back away from the two girls. Mal was powered down. Jay, who was two seconds from punching someone in the face, suddenly stops. Doug, who had jumped on Chad's back in an attempt to incapacitate him, jumped off. Lonnie de-tensed herself and Evie abandoned the mash potato on her. The fighting had stopped and everybody was looking at him. He supposed this was a good thing but why was his heart still racing?

"Ben?" Mal called out from the ground. He looked over to her. She steadily got off of the grass and slowly made her way over to him. "Don't worry about us, we're fine. Are you ok?"

Why was she asking if he was ok? She was the one in the middle of a fight, not him. He tried to tell her yes but instead he...snarled?

"Everything's fine Benny boo. We're gonna go back inside and hangout. How about I make you those chocolate chip pancakes you like so much?" She offered, making her way to him. Ben tore his gaze away from Mal to watch everybody else. They were frozen in place. But why?

"Hey, hey, hey," Mal cooed, (as well as she could because it's Mal and she doesn't _coo_ ) grabbing his attention, "Just focus on me." She said, tentatively holding his hands. Ben looked into Mal's eyes. She looked worried about something. Her green eyes were swimming in them. But the question why rang in his head again.

Why was everybody acting so weird?

It's almost as if Mal could read his thoughts, "Just focus on me Benny boo." She smiled. A part of him thinks that she knows that is one of his weaknesses when it comes to her. And under normal circumstances it would've worked. He would've just focused on anything to keep her smiling because Mal deserved to smile.

But these weren't normal circumstances.

And Ben made the mistake of looking down at their intertwined hands.

At least he thinks they were hands. While Mal's nails were covered in their signature black nail polish, his own were decorated with a new set of claws. He wrenched his hands away from her. What the hell was going on? He distantly heard her call out for him but he was too focused on his hands. One second the claws were out but then they slipped back into his nail beds as if they were never there. He inspected his hands more only for the claws to jut out again and not go back in. Ben felt his tongue outline the inside of his mouth and he stopped when the got to his teeth. Some of the teeth on the bottom and top row near the front had sharpened to a point.

Dear god, were those fangs?

Ben looked up at the crowd in front of him. No wonder they were so shocked, he could only imagine what he must look like. What he must sound like. But maybe he doesn't have to imagine. Or at least not yet. He spied an opening between a pair of students. They were wide eyed like the rest of them but Ben didn't focus on them.

He focused on running. The only thing he wanted to do was get away. To run.

So he ran.     

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man...puberty can suck sometimes.
> 
> Fun Fact: If I write this story correctly, there should be around 23 chapters more or less and if so, we've already hit the halfway point, and that feels like an accomplishment. Way to go guys! But chances are I'm gonna have way more ideas so this will extend beyond 23 chapters so we'll see. As far as I can tell there are about 7-8ish chapters left. I think one of the hardest problems is trying to make sure that Ben doesn't come off as a F-boy. That and typos. There were so many things that came full circle in this chapter. ESPECIALLY if you read the notes. And it only gets more intense from here on out. CAN'T WAIT! Before I forget, that quote about the 3 different types of love? NOT MY OWN! Not trying to get copyrighted. Ok, I think that's it. Am I forgetting something? Probably.
> 
> Oh wait, can bears smile?


	15. Never Be The Same

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Falling in love is fight. My heart is a battlefield and yours is the prize, too bad we're both losing in this war of hearts...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm just gonna say it:
> 
> You're either gonna love this chapter...
> 
> Or hate it.
> 
> Good luck, have fun. I know I will. Also, this might sound like gloating but I am VERY PROUD OF MYSELF FOR THIS CHAPTER SUMMARY!

It was only a matter of time until Lonnie came for him. Sometimes he rather regretted showing her his secret hideout but he told her way back when he was eleven. He's grown, he's changed, he's evolved.

Literally.

But still, the peace and quiet was nice while it lasted. Turns out when you've calmed down and the adrenaline rush had gone down to almost zero, (it was never  _truly_ gone) the fangs and claws were much easier to control.

Whoopee.

Ben felt Lonnie sit down right next to him at the edge of the abandoned windowsill. He didn't even want to know how long it took her to get up here, it made him feel too guilty for doing that to her. The two were at the second highest tower that overlooked the vast garden. Some may recognize it as the cursed castle where the Beast stay locked away him.

Ben recognized it as his home. After all, he did live there most of his life.

The icy peaks and frozen land had been replaced with green pastures, gardens and a new paint job. The house was more or less abandoned since his family had business far outside the castle but (paid) servants still came in and kept the place intact every couple of months. Ben appreciated that. It wouldn't be fun to stumble around in the dirt, dark and dust.

When Ben was younger, his father would tell him short stories, more like random factoids, about how when the world became too much, got too loud, he'd escape to one of the various rooftops for some much needed peace and quiet.

Six year old Ben didn't really understand, he loved the various sounds and noises.

Sixteen year old Ben currently cherished the silence.

But back at the matter at hand or more accurately, paw, Lonnie and Ben sat side by side overlooking the garden not saying anything. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence since they both enjoyed each others presence, it was comforting in a way. The sun had gone down ages ago and Ben distantly wondered just how long he'd been sitting here.

Lonnie finally broke the silence, calm as ever, "I wonder how many feet up we are."

Ben, still slightly numb, took a moment to reply. "I don't know," he shrugged, "couple tens of thousands?" His voice felt hoarse and unused. 

"Probably shouldn't look down then."

"Only if your afraid of heights."

"No one is afraid of heights, most likely, they're afraid of the fall."

"...from heights." Ben felt Lonnie shoot him a dry look and he stifled back a chuckle. Only Lonnie could make him laugh about the implications of possible death at the current moment. He glanced down and thought back to when his mom would tell him about the fight between his dad and the angry villagers, against Gaston. How dad jumped from rooftop to rooftop sliding up and down them not just to fight for himself, but to protect mom. Ben wondered if he too had the ability to do that now. All that strength, agility and speed.

All that anger.

Ben felt his claws pop out. He popped them back in. He swears that they've got a mind of their own.

"'Your parents called a couple of times." Lonnie casually mentions, snapping him out of his thoughts. He snorts, "How much is a couple?"

"More than once. They're worried, wanna know if you're okay. That and that the cruise's first stop is Montunui. I asked them to tell Moana hi from both of us." Ben nodded in agreement. For the first time she got here, he looked at her and raised an eyebrow in question. Lonnie was always good at reading his facial expressions and what it meant. Same thing went vice-versa.

Maybe it was a King and his ambassador thing. 

Maybe it was a best friend thing.

All that mattered was that it was a thing.

"Mal and the rest of our friends are worried too. Especially after you shot out of school like a bat out hell."

"Nope, just a beast out of hell."

"You're not funny." Lonnie said but snorted in soft laughs regardless. "You know everything's gonna be just fine right? It's not the first time this has happened and I have a really odd feeling that it won't be the last." Ben shrugged. It wasn't as if he was ashamed of his newfound beastly-ness. He was a firm believer in not only embracing but celebrating your differences. It made the world a much more interesting place. It was more a case of, he didn't know what to do next. 

Go on as normal?

Rage out?

Get neutered? Honestly the options were endless.

He wasn't worried about his friends either. If Lonnie being right next to him wasn't testimony enough then the fact that his own girlfriend can turn into a dragon at will, is. After she turned it took everybody about thirty seconds to get over it. So that wasn't a problem.

The public was...the public. A multi faceless entity that he'd learn how to deal with before he could even talk. Not a problem either.

In the back of his mind, he supposed that all his life he'd been fascinated in the unknown, wanted to learn about it, be a part of it. Now he _was_ the unknown and it was unfamiliar territory. Something deep inside told him that was the closest he was getting to the right answer.

Ben waited a beat before speaking. "How is everybody?" 

"Fine. Audrey damn near had a heart attack about her dress but that's to be expected. Surprisingly enough, Harry stepped in and practically dragged Chad back to his room. I wouldn't be surprised if he threw out the key Cinderella style and like I said before, our friends are worried about you."

"Nothing else?"

"None that I know of." The silence from before resumed but this time Ben could see that Lonnie was starting to get cold. Ben had a feeling that it had something to do with the high altitude but he wasn't a weatherman so he had no idea. Lonnie was in a sleeveless blue dress, leggings and converse. Ben shed off his jacket and placed it on her shoulder. She must've been really cold seeing as she didn't insist he keep it but snuggled into it instead. Ben on the other hand, couldn't be warmer without running a fever.

Lonnie breaks the silence again, "You ever miss the old Audrey? You know, the one before...current Audrey. I know we're all still friends...kind of...but still..." It was at this point that Ben figured that he should probably ask about what happened during the fight but honestly? He was exhausted and the thought taking up another battle felt like the last thing he wanted to do. Plus, he figured that he asked Mal what happened before they got called into Fairy Godmother's office because they  _will_ be getting called in.

As for Lonnie's question, he really doesn't know. Before when Audrey and him started dating it was different. Less about the public and more about themselves. Sure, they were kind of initiated into by their parents influence (Prince Phillip more than anyone) but they were friends long before that so they had no problems making their friendship more. And in the beginning it was easy. Their relationship wasn't like his and Mal's but that's because Audrey isn't Mal. Time passed and their relationship felt more like an obligation. Kisses were only for the public, affection only for their friends and family. Audrey went from being the sweetheart that resembled her mother so much to the perky, popular, princess who was thought to be the future queen. Had Mal not come along, he would've married her. He knows it, it was expected of him. Then again, if Audrey hadn't gotten so cold, he doesn't know if he would still leave her for Mal. Love cookie or not, if it was between old Audrey and Mal, it would've been a much harder decision to make.

It came down between the heart and the head.

It gave him a headache but Lonnie was still waiting for an answer. He didn't really have a solid one to give her so he quoted a fortune cookie he had one time he went to dinner with Lonnie and her family. (Mushu made really bad mushu by the way. He always found a way to burn it.) "We become what we are meant to be."

She snorts, "Have you been sniffing fortune cookies again?" He rolls his eyes at the old memory, "I was not snorting it, I was choking on it. There's a difference."

She shrugs, "Sure there is." The banter was fun and familiar. It also made him realize that he'd been sitting here so long that his bottom half had gone numb. "Ready to leave?" He asked.

"Only if you are."

"I'm not but there's stuff to get done." He said while getting up. His bones creaked with his every movement and he had to stretch before helping Lonnie up. "Plus that Summerlands Festival has never seemed more appealing."

Lonnie smiled, "I'm glad something good came out of all this."

* * *

Ben's girlfriend and friends each wore a different face but all looked the same level of pissed.

Maybe he shouldn't have left for so long without any word about where and how he was. On the bright side, all of them had managed to clean up and almost no evidence of what happened earlier at lunch was stuck on them - food wise at least.

Ben quickly deciphered each person's face. Carlos seemed joyed that he was back while Evie had a touch of surprise to her face. Jay looked severely annoyed but slightly relieved that Ben was back. And Mal...

Holy mother of roses. 

Mal's lips were pressed in a thin line but it wasn't her face that gave away her emotions but her eyes. They burned with almost every emotion Ben could think of. Sadness, surprise, anticipation, relief, joy, maybe even a touch of fear but there was no doubt about it - Mal was furious. It was a wonder she hadn't transformed yet.

"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?!?" The four of them screamed in unity and then they were off. Each of them ranting and raving asking questions, demanding answers except for Mal who continued to glare him down.

_DAMMIT! How long was I gone?_

Ben stood there and let his friends get their frustration out. He'd been around them long enough to know when they wanted answers and when they just wanted to vent.

And vent they did.

After a couple minutes and a very much deserved tongue lashing, Evie, Carlos and Jay calmed down enough to listen. Mal still hadn't spoken yet.

"First and foremost, are you okay?" Evie asked concerned. Ben noticed that she had gotten the mashed potatoes out of her hair or at least most of it. There was this small tip at the ends of her hair that was just a bit lighter than the rest of her head. He didn't need anyone to tell him that it was left over mashed potatoes, he could smell it and suspected that it might be one of his new...adaptations. 

Ben nodded his head at her question. "Yeah I'm fine. Always am." It was mostly true.

"Is there anything you need from us? Anything you want us to do?" Carlos asked next.

"Anyone you want us to pummel?" Jay chimed in, curling his right fist. Ben gave out a short dry laugh at his friend's protectiveness. Jay was clearly still amped up from lunch and while Ben wanted to help him out with that, he shook his head regardless.

"Really guys, it's okay. I'm okay. It's just a bit of a...hairy situation." Ben joked dryly. He could tell by the simultaneous eye rolls that it went unappreciated. Ben dared to risk a glance at Mal and sure enough, her arms were still crossed, lips set, eyes fierce. The five of them stood there in awkward silence until Jay, the official silence breaker, broke it by clapping his hands together.

"All right then! What're we waiting around for? We should be celebrating! We've got an actual beast on the tourney field and he's our captain! We are gonna  _crush_ our rivals." Jay said gleefully. And it was as if he triggered something in Carlos and Evie.

"Oh my god, I can try out animal friendly makeup on you! If you're okay with that of course."

"Ben, do you mind being a part of my thesis for my biology paper? PLEASE?"

"Screw thesis papers. Ben, we gotta work on how much force you can put in your tackles that stays within the rules of the game...but keeps us winning."

Ben listened with glee as his friends sprouted off different ideas and possibilities of the future. They sounded more excited about his...second puberty more than he did. But there was still one thing that he had to get off his chest and ask.

"So you guys are okay with me being...." Ben trailed off. He knew his friends would accept him, hell they already have but having a verbal confirmation never hurt anybody.

"A beast?" Carlos bluntly finished. Ben shyly nodded at him. Evie, Carlos and Jay awkwardly looked at each other in a moment of silence before bursting out laughing. Needless to say that Ben was confused.

It took them a minute to quiet down before Jay spoke up. "Sorry about that man. It's just that...did you really think that we'd be worried about that?" Ben didn't really know what to say so he just half heartedly shrugged.

"Dude, Evie's a witch, I'm half genie and Mal turns into a dragon. It kind of makes sense that you turn into something else too. Hell, the only other person left to transform is Carlos." Jay reassured.

"That's a good point." Evie said, "I wonder what you could turn into."

"Other than a massive nerd." Jay inputed with snark. Carlos socked him in the arm. Ben let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding. He never realized what an odd and magical bunch of friends he had, even for Auradon. He's glad that if he had to go through this with someone, it could be them.

Speaking of them...

Ben looked back at Mal except this time, they made eye contact and Ben couldn't look away. He had to wait for her to make the first move lest she get even more upset and flame-cook him.

Though wouldn't that be an end to one hell of a day.

He was prepared to wait there for however long she needed until Mal uncrossed her arms and made strides across the room towards Ben. At first, a part of him thought that she'd smack him for being so reckless. It was a much more pleasant surprise when she wrapped her arms around him in a hug instead. 

Mal's tiny frame made her feel like an actual teddy bear for Ben. A punk rock teddy bear but that didn't stop him from wrapping his arms around her and returning the embrace. The last of the tension of his shoulders finally released. Mal was still mad, no doubt, but not at him. 

She pulled away to peck him on the lips with a kiss. "You're always gonna be Benny-Boo." She said before diving back into the hug. Ben smiled in content and held her tighter.

"Is anyone else like, _super_ ready to leave for the festival tomorrow?" Carlos asked, "A vacation sounds like heaven right about now."

They all agreed.

* * *

 

Ben wakes up in a haze of purple.

Barely opening his eyes first, he can hear the ticking off an alarm clock sitting nearby and it keeps getting louder.

Tic-toc.

Tic-toc.

_TIC._

_TOC._

Ben's eyes fully snap open.

As his eyes refocuses he noticed that he was still in the girl's dorms and both of the beds were pushed together to make one super-bed. Ben raised an eyebrow in confusion until he remembered what happened last night.

_Oh that's right, we decided to get our minds off things by watching a movie._

The last thing he remembers is a movie about two babysitter's having an adventure and one of them looking suspiciously like Evie. Seriously, what was up with actors looking like his buddies? Next thing you know he's gonna watch a sitcom with Carlos as a breakdancing prankster who lives in a penthouse or Jay as a werewolf or something.

Ben looked around to see everyone asleep in one massive puppy pile.

He would've said that it was adorable if he didn't fear the wrath of their pranks.

Mal was right next to him, arms locked with her head tucked into his neck and his arm was around her. (That explains why he can't feel his right arm.) Jay was near the end of the bed asleep horizontally on both Mal and Ben's legs. (That explains why he can't feel below his knees.) Evie's back was pressed against Ben's left (Couldn't feel that either) with Carlos curled up asleep in her lap. It was so flattering that they trusted him enough to sleep with him (in the  _platonic_ sense) considering their past but in all honesty, the tingly sensation from having most of his limbs be asleep was spreading like wildfire and it was starting to freak him out a little bit.

Ben tried to think of a tactical plan to get out of this. Fortunately, this wasn't his first rodeo.  If he abruptly moved, they would all suddenly wake up and Ben would end up on the floor in a chokehold and a twisted arm...and that's if he was lucky. If he tried to move slowly then they would just cling tighter to him until he succumbed to the aggressive cuddling and went back to sleep.

That left only one option left.

Ben yawned as obnoxiously as he could.

At first it did nothing, but then he saw Mal's nose twitch and he smiled. It would all be like falling dominoes from here on out.

Before Mal's eyes even opened she must've felt the pressure on her legs because she kicked up with her right foot which startled Jay who kicked to left and hit Evie who jerked awake and surprised Carlos who almost fell out of bed before Evie caught them.

Ben kept smiling.  _"Good. They're all awake now and all my limbs are still intact."_ Like he said...

Not his first rodeo.

Mal, Carlos, Jay and Evie were all in different areas of awake, moaning and groaning about having to get up and yet nobody actually moved. Hell, Mal hadn't even opened her eyes yet.

Jay - still at the end of the bed and more on Ben's legs than Mal - spoke up in a groggy voice, "Those in favor of staying in bed instead of going to school say Aye."

Three simultaneous aye's were announced. Mal was still out of it.

 _"Aye."_ Ben said mentally but grimaced instead. As much as he would love to play hooky, Fairy Godmother would find out and the last thing was any more marks because Fairy Godmother _would_ find out.

It's a little freaky.

Besides, he had stuff he had to take care of concerning a certain pirate.

"Guys, I hate to be the bearer of bad news..." Ben started off but Jay cut him off with a 'So don't' and Mal kicked him again. Eyes still closed.

"But" Ben continued like he wasn't interrupted, "We really need to earn some points after yesterday's lunchtime show." He figured that he should ask what happened but it was really early and the wound was still fresh and his brain wasn't completely awake yet so he didn't.

But he would...soon.     

"Why? It's not like we started anything." Carlos grumbled. The fight must've been  _bad_ for Carlos to not want to got to school.

"Yeah, a first its just all of us talking about festival plans and the next thing we know we're getting a face full of Audrey and her princess perfectionists in all their pink preppy pestilence." Evie chimes in.

"Perfect." Jay adds just to be an ass.

Ben rolls his eyes so hard that it physically hurts for a moment. What is it going to take for everybody to be treated equally? Should everybody be sent to live on the Isle just to see what it feels like? The idea goes as soon as it comes. No matter how ugly things get in Auradon, that would be a _horrible_ idea. Ben summons sixteen years of royal training to hold in his temper the next time he speaks. "As much I wanna stay here too and believe me, I do, we have to show the school that you guys are the bigger people?"

"Can't we show them that when we get back from the Summerlands?" Jay whines.

"No."

"Guess we're going to school today." Mal says for the first time this morning and her eyes are open.

"Good morning." Ben greets. Mal squints her eyes and Ben can literally see the sleep in her eyes take over before she face-plants back into her pillow.

"I call dibs on showing first." She declares with pillows muffling her voice.

* * *

Admittedly, Ben didn't know what to expect when he would eventually show up at school with the other four. The possibilities going through his head were endless.

Which is why it almost pisses him off that he didn't see this coming.

To be truthful, why wouldn't this happen? It had been going on all his life whether he wanted it or not. Usually not.

Nobody did anything. Not a hair was out of place.

Ben supposed being royalty had its perks. Nice castles, vacations and full blown immunity. He's willing to bet that he could have someone cursed right now in the hallway and nobody would bat an eye.

Don't get Ben wrong, it's not like he  _wanted_ to be ridiculed, outcasted and mistreated but he wanted  _some_ accountability for something!

_Anything._

All his life people have put him on a pedestal so high because he would be king one day and it had only gotten worse. Part of the reason why he was so attached to Mal and Co. was because they didn't treat him any different regardless of his so called status. He remembers trying out for tourney and how he had to fight his parents tooth, nail and eyeball just to tryout. When it turned out that they'd only let him play as long as Ben was benched he figured he'd have to metaphorically lose another body part as well.

A part of him almost misses being a toddler. Sure the other kids were mean to him because they were scared but at least they were honest. Now, everybody will be around him if they have the chance not because they like him but because they like the perks of hanging out with the kingdom's heir. Ben really hated that because it made things a bad time to be around for everybody. It's why he didn't have that many friends. Was he friendly? Of course. Didn't mean he was everybody's bestie.

On the bright side Ben's immunity seemed to spread to his friends as well. Figures. Don't mess with the kings loved ones or he'll banish you.

 _"Or eat you."_ His brain unhelpfully supplied.

"Did Fairy Godmother cast some type of memory wiping spell?" Jay asked as they all walked down the halls. Ben actually wouldn't be joining them in class. He had plans with Fairy Godmother that would take up most of his morning. He just wanted to drop them off.

"Yeah...everybody's acting...well, normal." Evie added, looking around at their fellow classmates in confusion.

"Maybe it's a trap." Carlos fearfully suggested, clutching his books tighter in his paranoid state. Mal was as calm as ever. "Let them try anything. We'll handle it just fine."

Ben smirked at Mal's bravado. Come hell or high water, Auradon or Isle, Mal was ready to fight. Always and forever.

"It's nothing." Ben said, "People probably want to avoid getting more trouble with Fairy Godmother." It was half right. After whatever happened yesterday only a fool with a death wish would stir up more trouble despite Fairy Godmother's. Laugh all you want but pulling up pumpkin roots for over three hours _hurts._

A lot.

And not in the places you'd expect it to hurt but don't worry, it hurts there too.

Also, Ben figured that telling his girlfriend and friends that the reason that everyone was leaving them alone was because they feared Ben would piss them off more than placate them. So he wisely kept that little tidbit to himself.

"Hey guys, remember that we're leaving at 10-10:30 tonight so be ready or face the wrath of Lonnie." Ben teasingly warned. Mal and others simply nodded excitedly.

"Well here we are!" Carlos announced, "Mythical equations."

"I'm not going to class." Ben said. The others looked at him puzzled. "Have stuff to sort out with Fairy Godmother."

"Like what?" Mal asked while ignoring Jay's "TAKE ME WITH YOU!"

"To get permission for something for a friend of mine. He deserves it."

"He? How scandalous Little Benny Foo-Foo and it sounds serious. You're not trading me out are you?"  Mal joked. Ben, as always because it was fun, played along. "God no...our friends would kill me."

"Yes we would." The other three supplied simultaneously. Between Evie and Carlos's brains and Jay's emotion fueled strength, he had no doubt that they could and would successfully kill him and get away with it.

Ben briefly wonders how weird it is that he's a little proud.  

Carlos shrugged before he sends a peace sign to Ben and was the first one in while Evie followed, waving goodbye to Ben. Mal was about to walk in when Jay suddenly erupted out a series of coughs.

"Jeez guys" Coughing,"I think I'm coming down with something,.", Even more coughing, "I should probably go back to my dorm." Very aggressive coughing at this point. Jay attempted to briskly walk away while acting casual (as casual as you can while fake coughing) but Mal grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back, forcing Jay to walk backwards. He groaned loudly.

"Feed me to the fishes please!" He moaned and whined.

Ben burst out laughing as he waved goodbye.

* * *

The meeting had gone by pretty smoothly. Fairy Godmother had agreed to his terms as long as he promised to backtrack if anything went wrong. She also (thankfully) didn't bring up the fight or his new...changes.

_"That might be a conversation better suited for your parents but if you ever need me you know that I'm only a dream away."_

Ben went back to school and finished the rest of classes with a smile on his face. His only worry was that his friend wouldn't accept for reasons that could range from thinking it's charity or because of what was now deemed by his friends "The Untold Lunch Incident". Ben really hoped it was the former. He didn't know what it was but something about losing this person made his stomach knot and his heart clench. He always did get attached to people easily. Wore his heart on his sleeve just like his mother Belle.

"-and now you're dead." Harry spoke out, stealing Ben's attention. Ben look down to see Harry's sword place millimeters away from his heart. The two were back in the enchanted forest honing Ben's sword skills. The sun would set soon. The sky looked quite romantic with all the pinks, blues, yellows and oranges spread out on it.

Ben refocused on the sword at his heart. With zest he twisted his wrist and used the tip of his own sword to hit Harry's out of the way. He wrapped his arm around Harry in order to tug him close, grabbed him by the front of his shirt and twisted him to the ground, hovering over Harry with his sword to the pirate's throat. "Now you're dead."

Harry cockily smirked, "Am I?" Ben felt a pat between his legs toward his inner left thigh, alarmingly close to his crotch. Ben hesitantly looked down to see Harry's hand, armed with a sword, directly under his private areas.

Cue the blush in 3...2...1...

Harry broke out laughing at the expression on Ben's face as he scrambled off him. Despite his current embarrassment, Ben was overjoyed that Harry wanted to continue training him. Better yet, Harry didn't treat Ben any different as the event from moments ago proves. Since Ben didn't know Harry as long as his other friends, he couldn't quite gauge Harry's reaction. When Harry didn't seem fazed in the slightest, Ben finally let out an air of relief and let himself breathe. Like he said earlier, the thought of losing Harry made his stomach knot and heat clench. It was too late to play smart, he was already attached. But on the bright side...

Harry seemed a bit attached too...even if he denied it.

Harry's laughs eventually quieted down to the occasional chuckle. "And to think I thought seeing Chad snort out toothpaste this morning would be the best thing I saw today."

Ben looked out into the sky. Purple undertones were at the edges of the sky. Darkness was creeping in which meant that he and Harry would have to leave soon.

_It's now or never._

"About Chad did he say anything about yesterday?" Okay, not what Ben planned to say but he was curious nonetheless.

"Probably, kind of tuned him out. Helped that I didn't spend the night with him." Harry answered, idly playing with his sword. Ben was puzzled. If he wasn't in his room then where-

"Crashed with Gil and Doug." He said, answering Ben's unasked question.

"Why'd you spend the night with them?"

"Because there was a more than probable chance that Chad would kill me in the middle in the night with a toothbrush because I locked him in there." Harry responded casually. Ben however, acted not so casually. His eyebrows crossed so fast in confusion that it almost hurt. "Why'd you lock him in there?"

Harry shrugged, "I saw how he acted in the fight. After you ran off the crowd dispersed like flies. Grabbed Chad in all the confusion and wrangled him back to our room." Harry pulled a phone out of his back pocket but it wasn't his own, "Might've stolen his phone too. He's still in there, by the way, in our room."

Huh. That explains why he hadn't seen Chad all day and probably why Audrey had kept her distance.

"While I should, and will, talk to you about more ethical ways of dealing with people but for now, thank you. It means a lot." Ben thanked whole-heartedly. 

"It's no big deal." Harry took a step closer to Ben, "Look, I have no idea what you're going through but it looked rather life changing. The least I could do is keep a couple of rats out of your hair."

Ben couldn't help the smiling growing on his face nor did he want to. There was something akin to bubbles floating in his stomach. It was odd but...not un-welcomed. "Is the big bad pirate growing a heart?"

Harry scoffed, "That's The Tin Man...or The Grinch. I grew up with limited cable and even  _I_ know that." Ben rolled his eyes, "Whatever, I'm grateful. In fact there was something I wanted to ask you before we got interrupted yesterday." Ben said, referring to the time spent in his room. Now that he thought about it, he was pretty sure that Harry's hat was still on the floor beside his bed. He'd have to check later.

"How dare I be this handsome?" Harry cheekily filled in.

"More like do you Uma and Gil want to come with me and my friends to the Summerlands Festival?" Ben blurted out.

"What's that?"

"Long story short: it's a festival that is happening throughout the rest of the weekend and we leave tonight. I was hoping that you'd leave with us."

"Us being you and the VK's." Harry's question didn't sound like a question. "Among others." Ben quickly added. Noticing the conflicted look on Harry face, Ben kept talking. "It's supposed to be a lot of fun and I think that we  _all_ deserve a bit of that right now don't you think?"

"You know Uma would never agree to being in Mal's presence that long. Neither would I."

"So she won't have to! You guys will drive in different limos and sleep in different rooms. There are so many people that I'll doubt you'll even see each other." Harry still had a conflicted look on his face but Ben wasn't giving up. "Don't you want to see more of Auradon than just school? I know that's not what you signed up for." Harry didn't answer. During Ben's pleading the two had gotten closer. That's been happening a lot but it wouldn't help that this time Ben deliberately took a step towards Harry until he was looking up into his eyes.

They were really blue and the messy black makeup made them standout even more.

"Please?"

Whatever declining response Harry had ready, died on his lips with a sigh. "I'll talk to Uma but no promises."

Ben beamed, "That's all I'm asking for." Behind Harry, darkness was settling in. The sky was half dark and half light which meant that the two would leave soon which meant that Ben was running out of time.

"Can you grab me a water out of the sports bag?" Ben randomly asked. Next to a nearby tree, there was a bag where all the swords were kept along with other stuff like water, first aid and something that Ben may or may not have hid in there.

"...What?" Harry asked a little dumbly. Ben couldn't blame him. His question was so random but that's what he asked so he had to stick with it. "Could you grab me a water bottle please?"

"Why can't you get it? You have legs that work and you're closer." Harry had a point. Ben stubbornly stepped to the right side of Harry and looked at him with a smile, "Now you're closer."

"Your legs still work as you just proved." Harry retorted. Really? No movement towards the bag at all? "Would you just grab me stupid water please?" Ben bit out. At this point, he figured out that Harry liked when he wasn't so prim and proper. The growing smirk on Harry's face attested to that. "No need to get testy Beasty."

Harry sauntered over to the bag and crouched down to look for a water bottle.  _"The things I do for this boy."_ Harry thought bitterly but fondly. He was about to give up and tell Ben that there was no water bottle (which was a bad thing in hindsight since fighting requires hydration) but then froze at the sight of what was hidden in there beneath the extra swords. "Y-You didn't." Harry choked out.

Ben stayed quiet as he smiled and watched. The sun was still going down. There were only minutes left.

Harry slowly got up and face Ben. The look on his face was something that Ben hadn't seen before. Harry was astonished. In his hands was the hook that was confiscated when he first got here.

Ben got his hook back for him.

"H-how did you? When did you?" Harry stuttered out as he took wobbly steps towards the other boy. It had been so long since he had held it. His hand had felt foreign to him, as if his body wasn't complete. Thanks to Ben, now it was.

"Spoke with Fairy Godmother today. We struck up a deal. As long as you were the hook with the same protecter that the tip of the school swords have and don't cause any trouble, you can wear it." Harry felt along the tip and sure enough, there was a small casing of plastic around it.

"I sprung for the clear protecter because I thought you would appreciate it more than the school colors." 

"You didn't have to do this." Harry said, still slightly dazed. Ben shrugged him off, "I already knew that you had some type of attachment to it but when you told me your story I finally realized just how it important it was, it is, to you and it wasn't right to take it away.Plus you came to foreign lands with people you didn't know or trust." Ben paused for a moment, " _It's the least I could do._ " He smiled as he mimicked Harry's words from earlier. Harry down at his hook and back at Ben. He did this a couple times until Ben broke him out of it.

"May I?" He said, gesturing to the hook that Harry hadn't put on yet. Harry hesitantly walk towards Ben and gently handed over his hook. He never willingly gave his hook to anyone after he stole it from his father, fearing that he'd never see it again. That includes Uma. Giving it to Ben felt weird but not...wrong.

Ben looked up expectantly at the pirate waiting for him to tell him which hand to put it on. Harry raised his left and Ben carefully put it on his hand. He look back up at Harry with pride, "Fits like a glove...or a hook." Harry let out the driest laugh yet. "You just couldn't help yourself could you?" Ben had no shame, "No I couldn't"

Blue met hazel green in an intense gaze.

Harry's eyes darkened. "...Neither can I."

"What does that-" Ben never finished his question because by that time, Harry had bent down far enough to capture his lips in a kiss. Behind them, the sun was only a wisp as it set to the point where sunlight and darkness touched and became one. The sky both light and dark if only for a moment.

At first, Ben didn't move. At all. The shock was a bit too much for him. Though what surprised him was how easily he melted into Harry after a few moments. Feeling Ben kiss back, Harry kissed him with renewed vigor as he gently cupped the side of Ben's cheek with his right. Meanwhile, Ben had unawarely placed his hand on the lower back of the other boy in order to pull him closer. Lips moving, hearts racing. Right now it was just the two of them and it was as close to perfect as one could get.

No pressure of secret plans.

No kingdom responsibilities.

No internal turmoils over friends.

No worry over recent transformations.

No thoughts about the Isle.

No thoughts about friends and their opinion. No, Uma, no Evie, No Gil, No Carlos, No Jay, No Mal.

No, Mal.

NO.  _Mal._

Ben's eyes popped open as he briskly shoved Harry away from him. Perhaps with more strength then he realized because Harry went quite a few steps back but Ben wasn't really focused on that right now.

"So-um...we're good!" Ben awkwardly stated trying to ignore the throbbing of his head and lips. It took him a second to realize that Harry was focused on something else. Did his fangs pop out or something. Ben ran he tongue over his teeth and looked at his nails but everything was the same. "What is it?"

"Your...your eyes." Ben's eyebrows climbed his face in confusion. What about his eyes? Ben quickly ran over to the bag where he put his phone and set it on Camera Mode. 

He nearly dropped his phone in surprise.

Staring back at him wasn't the regular sight he was used to. Instead glowing steel blue eyes stared back at him. Glowing blue irises just like his father had when he was the beast. Ben fell as he scrambled to get up. "Ok-um...s-so I'm j-just gonna go. Make sure you tell Uma i-in time so you don't kiss- I mean miss! - the limo. You can f-find your way back right? Here, I'll just take t-this for you!" Ben said as he clumsily picked up the sports bag and hoisted it over his shoulder. He left no room for conversation as he turned around to leave.

Harry's shouts for Ben fell on deaf ears as Ben ran out of the forest as fast as he could.

* * *

 

Ben burst into the girls dorm hall like a tornado.

He planned to tell Mal the truth as soon as he saw her. After the events of the whole 'running back to the Isle' thing, they promised to always tell each other the truth no matter how much it hurt and this was going to hurt.

But Ben wasn't one for breaking promises.

So as soon as he left the forest he ran down to the girls dorm and made sure that his newfound glowing eyes had simmered down before he entered Mal's room. This was it, he was ready.

Except he wasn't.

The second he walked in - without knocking by the way - he ran into Mal who was packing for the festival. Mal, who was ready to throw a punch at the intruder until she realized it was Ben. "Geez Ben, you startled me." She smirked as she went back to packing. Ben's heart hurt. How long would she keep looking at that after he told her the truth? How long would his friends not hate him? Dear God, his friends.

His friends were going to  _kill_ him and he would help. Did he even have the right to still call them his friends after what he did?

Did he even regret it?

"What are you doing here so early?" Mal asked, snapping the boy out of it, "We don't leave for a couple of hours right?"

It took Ben a minute to speak. "Right. I just", Tell her the truth, "...missed you."

Damn it.

Mal laughed, "Can't last that long without me huh?" Ben nervously shook his head as he tried to summon up any courage to say what needed to be said but failed. "Where's Evie?"

"At the boys dorm making sure that they're packing because you know they got distracted by either food, video games, books or sleep." Mal shook her head fondly while continuing to pack. Ben stood there clenching and unclenching his fists in discomfort.

Fortunately, (or  _Un_ fortunately) Mal noticed that Ben was having trouble with his words amongst everything else. She walked towards him and placed a hand on his arm as a sign of comfort. "Everything okay?"

Tell her the truth.

"I..."

Tell her the truth.

"I did something." Mal waited in baited anticipation.

_TELL. HER. THE TRUTH._

"I INVITED UMA AND HER CREW TO COME WITH US!" Ben internally glowered at himself.  _WRONG TRUTH DUMBASS!_

Mal's eyes widened. "Really? Why?"

"It's my responsibility to show them all of Auradon after all." Ben said automatically. What was he doing right now?

"Are you sure that it's a good idea?" She asked.

 _Good question._ "Good or not the damage is done now." That was technically true on all accounts. Mal shrugged, "Well if that's all you need to tell me...ok. Jay's gonna lose his shit but we can handle him can't we?"

Ben absently nodded his head.

"Are you sure you're okay. You're looking a little pale."

"Yeah...I just...really missed you." He said as he suddenly pulled her close. To his reliving surprise, Mal hugged him back only after a moment of hesitation. "You're such a sap Benny-boo." She said while laughing. Ben's eyes stung as he squeezed her tighter.

"I love you."

 _I really do._  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *innocent whistling*


	16. To The Summerlands We Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everybody may have left Auradon but that doesn't mean that their problems have left them...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SPOILER ALERT:Ben and Harry kissed last chapter...and it was cringey as fuck, I'm gonna try to be creative and write certain...scenes in a way that don't make me gag writing it and YOU (whoever YOU are) gag reading it. Hey, it was my first time being gooey and shit, ease up a bit.
> 
> Thank you for your lovely comments, they keep me going. (Look at me being a sap.)
> 
> Okay I'm done you can go read now!

When night had fallen, everybody scrambled to get ready.

Jay and Carlos had packed all they believed to be essentials and when Evie saw what they had packed - Swim goggles, school books, peanut butter, chocolate and NO UNDERWEAR - she promptly made them repack.

After dropping one of his major bombshells on Mal, she and Ben had raced to his room to go and get Ben's stuff ready. Meanwhile, Ben stayed in a constant conflict in his head on whether or not to tell Mal about the kiss now, before they went on vacation, during, or after leaving the Summerlands. He didn't want to ruin her trip but he honestly didn't know how long he could keep this to himself. His whole body was humming, especially his hands which is how he accidentally broke all the locks of not one or two but  _three_ suitcases.

(By the way, Harry's hat  _was_ still in the room. Ben spied it on the floor next to his bed hidden by a particularly long blanket.)

Back at Harry and Chad's room, Harry had stuffed a suitcase in a daze, not even noticing the constant whining and pouting from Chad. He had told Uma and Gil about the trip after he got back from the forest.

From the mountain top.

From Ben.

From Ben and his-

Harry supposed that they were packing as well.

* * *

 

The clock was simultaneously going too fast  _and_ too slow. As if the soon-to-be vacationers were both in a hurry yet taking their time to leave.

It was weird.

It was 10:15 and all the teenagers were buzzing.

Evie was excited to see all the colors and patterns hoping to get inspirations for some new designs. Mal couldn't wait to take in all the art...and the strawberries. She had both Ben and Lonnie promises to her twice that there would be strawberries.

So she had a bit of an obsession.

Fight her.

Better to be obsessed with fruit than with pointy spindles.

Carlos and Jay argued back and forth about which adventure they'd go on first. ( _"Jay, I know you have trouble hearing something that isn't your own voice but you have to listen to me. We. Are. Going. To. A. Museum. First._

 _"Fat chance polka dots, we do girls, games, gambling or gin first and then you'll get your historical treat of boredom."_ )

Lonnie and Evie had tried explaining that the two could just part separate ways when they all got there but the look those two gave them in silence shouted how ridiculous the idea was before going back to arguing. It left both girls sighing in exasperated fondness.

"So what's the first thing you're gonna do at the Summerlands?" Mal asked as she plopped onto her bed and looked down. Ben was seated in her purple beanbag chair at the end of her bed frame.

"What?" Ben asked surprisingly looking up. He was still a bit out of it except this time it wasn't just about the kiss. His entire body felt like it was buzzing with a thousand bees. All of them stinging every inch of his body. It wasn't as if he was gonna keel over in pain but he was still really sore.

"Um...I have no idea." He eventually answered. Mal shot him a raised eyebrow. "You okay? You seem a bit...pale."

Ben shrugged, "Im fine just stiff." Mal snorted, "Bad pickup line?"

"I wish." Mal's teasing face disappeared when she turned to lay fully on her stomach and had her hands lay on Ben's shoulders. "Well I'm no masseuse but maybe this will help." That was the only warning Ben got before she started rubbing his shoulders, sinking her fingers into the bone. 

Ben groaned in pleasure, "Where did you learn to do this? There's no massage classes here right? I would know if there is...at least I should know..."He trailed off. Mal shook her head, "No, I didn't get this from a class...Back on the Isle...you know how things weren't friendly right?"

Ben nodded. A part of him new that the word "friendly" was a massive understatement.

"Well," she continued, digging deeper into his shoulders, "whenever me or the others came back from a bad enough fight...we'd massage the areas where bruises were forming...or we'd do it on our own. Nothing makes a bruise worse than a stiff joint...I think, I'm a dragon not a doctor." she kid before resuming, "I guess the skill just built up over time." At this point, Mal had stopped massaging and Ben had tentatively put his right hand on her left. He looked up into her eyes. If eyes were the windows to the soul than Mal had locked hers...but still. If you gave it enough time, if you gave _her_ enough time, you could see the light shining through.

Ben slowly lifted himself up from the beanbag and pressed his lips against hers in an upside down kiss. If she felt his lips quivering, she didn't show it and Ben was more than thankful.

He didn't deserve her.

Not in the slightest.

* * *

"Why were you packing?"

"Where are you going?"

"Can I come too?" 

"Or can you at least let me out of my - sorry -  _our_ room?"

"Harry."

"Harry."

"HARRY!"

The pirates' head snapped up from the ground as he fixed Chad with a glare. For the moment, the bed felt too comfortable for him and the soft cushioning was throwing him off his game. He'd been at Auradon for months now and he still wasn't used to it. If he was being honest, which he rarely is, he'd say he never would. So he settled for laying on the carpeted ground propping his feat up on the bed. He was trying to get some much needed clarity before he went on this very sudden trip but 'clarity' and 'Chad' weren't two words that went together.

"What. Do. You. Want?" Harry growled out. Chad shot him an expectant look from his bed. "Aren't you gonna answer my questions?"

"I'm talking to you aren't I?"

"That's not the same as answering." At the look of Harry's right eye slightly twitching in madness, Chad wisely decided to back peddle. "You're packed." He said, motioning over to Harry's suitcase, "You going somewhere?"

"Yup." Harry answered shortly before laying his head back on the ground.

"Where?"

"Away?"

"For how long?"

"Forever." Harry said sarcastically. At least it was meant to be sarcastic but by the way Chad leaped out of his on bed and onto Harry's had him thinking otherwise. "YOU CAN'T LEAVE! YOU'RE THE LONGEST ROOMMATE I'VE EVER HAD!"

Harry pulled his feet off the bed and sat on the floor trying to readjust his hearing. "Okay, first, and I never thought I'd be the one saying this but,  _inside voices._ Second, I'm your longest roommate? Really?" He asked with a dead tone. Chad just energetically nodded.

"I wonder why." Harry muttered.

"Me too!" Chad pitch in to the other boy's slight surprise. "So by that logic, you have to stay." 

Harry snorted, "What kind of logic is that?"

"Chad logic." The blonde stated with a proud smile. Harry rolled his eyes. Figures. "Relax, I'm not going anywhere forever. I'll be gone for the weekend. Don't burn down the place while I'm gone." Harry had come to not hate this overly cushy room.

"You going with anyone?"

"My mates."

"Is Ben one of your 'mates'? You guys have gotten pretty close lately."  Harry stilled a bit at the young king's name. The stillness caught him off guard. Back on the Isle even if he was getting beaten he wouldn't let so much of a flicker cross over his face.

What was this place doing to him?

Going to school on a regular basis, doing homework, bunking with princes, kissing kings.

Kissing kings.

He kissed a king.

Actually, screw that. He kissed  _Ben._ What was he thinking? 

Oh, that's right, he wasn't. 

Harry laid back on the ground with a heavy sigh looking at the ceiling and absentmindedly played with the new addition of plastic on his hook.  _Welcome back old friend._ In the back of his mind, Harry thought about how sad that was. Sad but expected. Many times his hook was his only sense of comfort in a comfortless world. Even before Uma and Gil. He hadn't just lost something that acted like a body part most times but his sense of stability. Everybody clings to something and he's kind of surprised that he hasn't lashed out yet.

Surprised and a little proud. For _not_ getting in a fight instead of being proud of fighting someone till they break.

Huh.

That's new too.

But back to the other problem at hand (hook); Ben.

It made Harry want to scream. Things weren't supposed to turn out this way.

Going to school, having roommates, kissing national rulers. He wasn't meant for this. He wasn't meant for evolving, he was meant for destruction. That was what he was taught, what he learned. Same with everybody else on the Isle.

Destroy or die.

Kill or be killed.

 _Survive._ By any means necessary.

And yet, laying here on this floor, vaguely hearing Chad complain while on his bed, still feeling the gentle thrum on his lips, Harry couldn't think about surviving, but  _thriving._

And Goddamn, wasn't that a scary thought.

"What time are you leaving?" Chad asks and for once, Harry welcomes the distraction. "Soon I think."

"Need a limo slash field trip buddy?" Chad asks oh so subtly. Harry shoots him a smirk from the floor. "You know what? I think I do." Harry revels in the hopeful look in Chad's face as he gets up to face the boy on the bed only to turn around and head for the door.

"Think I'm gonna check if said buddies are ready." Harry doesn't even need to turn around to know that Chad's mouth is open and feeling utterly gobsmacked. It makes him grin. Maybe, just maybe, he wasn't as sinister as he originally once was when he first got here but he's far from being a nice, hell, decent person.

He lets the thought comfort him as much as he will let it.

* * *

The limos were late. All the rides ended up arriving at 10:45. Like most days, Mal and everybody else could be found in hers and Evie's dorm room. When Lonnie had told them that the limos  were finally here, they all bolted out the door. Jay, per usual in the lead, dragging an unwilling Carlos who was holding Dude. Dude, who could still talk, had to come with them seeing as all the people that Carlos trusted was coming with him on this trip.

"I wanna drive!" Jay exclaimed while still running. Overtime, he had started to consider himself the group's personal driver and the limo as his personal car. Unfortunately, no matter how many times he drove it, it was still technically school property.

"You can't." Lonnie said, keeping up right beside him, "There's already a driver and you don't know the way. None of us do."

"I'll learn. It'll be an experience." Jay replied. Lonnie let out a soft snort. "And as for the predisposed driver?"

"He can take a hike." Lonnie laughed at Jay's response. "If it makes you feel better, I can't sit shotgun. The drivers are rather finicky about it."

"You not sitting in shotgun?...That's just not right." Jay said with only a hint of sarcasm.

"I'm glad someone agrees." She said before pulling ahead of the two boys. 

The others were behind those three, struggling to catch up. Mal had packed a duffel bag while Evie had packed a suitcase. Ben had followed in Mal's example, slinging a royal blue duffel bag over his shoulder but the luggage wasn't the reason that they were behind. No, it was because the girls had insisted on waiting for Ben to text Harry that their ride was here. Now Ben doesn't know if it's because he's been sheltered all his life or because of what happened on the mountain top but clicking Harry's contact with the presence of Mal and Evie in front of him was one of the hardest things he's ever had to do.

And he rules a nation for crying out loud.

Ben took a deep breathe and willed himself to relax. It was just a simple text.  _Our rides are here._ That's it. But what if he's insinuated something by using the word 'our'? Maybe he should change it to 'your'. No, what if Harry assumes that as a means of isolating him. Despite the ever growing awkwardness, Ben didn't want to do that. It felt like forever but was more than likely thirty seconds, before he just said screw it and hit the send button. Our, yours, who cares? It was just a text.

It would probably be more convincing if his teeth hadn't just sharpened. Luckily, he was able to hide it within his own mouth. Unluckily, he tasted blood in all it's coppery tangy grossness. Ew.

"Well what're we waiting for?"  Ben said quickly, hoping that there wasn't blood on his teeth. "Let's go!"

* * *

The two different friend groups met outside the school in front of the Beast statue and like everyone suspected, it was awkward.

It was _really_ awkward.

What's worse was that it was awkward for more than one reason. The reason between Mal and Uma, that was obvious. It was the same reasons for Mal's three and Uma's two; gang rivalry. It was awkward for Jane and Lonnie because they were simultaneously stuck on the outside yet stuck in the middle. Not wanting to cause bloodshed but not abandoning their friends either. 

And Ben?

Well he was just going to pretend that the unrelenting gaze on him was coming from Gil even though he was playing with a rock in between his feet. But thank the stars above for certain people. Those certain people being Evie and Lonnie because Ben couldn't take the tense silence anymore-he didn't think anyone could.

"Okay," Evie started, "Look I get it, we don't get along but we still don't have too. This trip doesn't have to turn into a showdown if we can all stay civil." 

Lonnie stepped in, "She's right. Let's just go in our limos and head to the festival where we can all be separate and still have a good time." Apparently, that was the general consensus for all parties present because the VK's and the Sea Three all nodded at each other and the meaning was clear: Ceasefire...for now.

"Well I am all about being civil. Right Beasty?" A certain accented pirate spoke out. Ben just gave him a quick smile of acknowledgment because dammit, he just got his teeth back in order and now they were sharp again.

Lonnie let out a relieving breath of air. "Now that that's settle, Uma you and your group will go in the limo behind ours." She pointed behind her on the pathway where two identical black limos with the Auradon crest on it where waiting. 

Uma, Gil and Harry went into the second limo while the others pilled into the first. The first limo was a bit bigger since it was fitting more people. They all snugly fit inside. Evie, Mal and Ben sat on one end with Ben in the middle while Carlos, Jane, Lonnie and Jay were sitting on the other side in that exact order. Meanwhile, Dude was rolling on his back on the car floor. Lonnie knocked on the black window behind her to give the driver the thumbs up signal to start driving. "Summerlands here we come!"

The whole car cheered.

* * *

 

Harry sat next to Gil, staring out the window. He watched the trees go by and the sky alight with the moon and stars. One of the first things that'd he'd noticed when they all first got here was one of the many things that Auradon had over the Isle; the night sky. It wasn't for anything other than the fact that thanks to the barrier, it was damn near impossible to see the stars and there was only a chance in hell that you could see a couple of stars if you venture out in the middle of the night and sailed to as close to the barrier as you could.

Not many came back from a trip like that but it never stopped Harry from trying.

Harry supposed that he liked the stars. For a plateau of reasons. They were billions of tiny rays of light that filled oblivion. The stars are literally everywhere so no matter where he was in the world he was never truly lost. Speaking of that, stars were a pirate's best friend. Have a wonky compass or a ripped map? Follow the constellations. It made him more-than-slightly bitter that he'd never had a chance to truly test that theory himself. There was another reason that he liked the stars but he preferred to keep that particular reason under wraps in the depths of his brain. It was something he...discovered recently and didn't have nearly enough energy to even begin to think about maybe accepting it. Harry looked away from the window, he was giving himself a headache.

He looked over at the other two in the car. Gil - sweet, dependable, confusion inducing Gil - was eating what Harry learned to be a cheeseburger that he didn't even know was in the limo. Normally Harry wouldn't mind (much) as to what Gil was eating but this particular cheeseburger was backwards. As in, there was two meat patties and bread in the middle instead of the other way around. Now Harry might be inexperienced in "normal" food but even he knows that that isn't right.

Gil doesn't seem to mind.

In front of him is Uma. Sitting in the leather chair drinking a soda. To the average person, to the untrained eye, she's passive. Just a girl sipping her drink. To Harry, she's vibrating. All of her is on high alert. She's sitting with her right crossed over her leg because her right has a stronger kick. She's sitting directly in the middle so that she can watch both windows, and the straw in the can is just a means of weaponry in case for some unknown reason she needs to stab anyone.

She's also plotting. Which puts Harry more on edge then a sharpened straw.

"You're awfully quiet." He starts conversationally. Like he isn't trying to decode every word that she says. He's usually pretty good at it. Usually. He's starting to think that Auradon has seriously thrown him off his game.  _"Just Auradon?"_ His brain unhelpfully questions. Harry forces the thought into a plane of (temporary) non existence.

Uma shrugs, "Thinking."

He presses, "About?"

She looks him dead in the eyes. "Things."

Harry rolls his eyes and just barely refrains from asking "like.'' He knows what she's thinking about. It's the only thing she ever thinks about.

Mal, revenge, Mal, her mother, Mal, her legacy, Mal, the plan, Mal, the past, present and future, Mal, Mal and more Mal.

Also you can't forget about the purple haired dragon girl. Her name's Mal.

Harry lets his head plop against the headrest as he sighs. For years Mal has haunted Uma. She's haunted all of them but for Uma, it was something more, something personal, something deep.

It drove her like an obsession. An endless circle of hate, desperation and need. Uma knew this, she acknowledge this but she never accepted it, not really. Ironically enough, her hate for Mal is what drove her. What's one more risk if it means she can get one up on Mal? 

If he lets himself think about it, really think about it, he finds it kind of sad. To want acknowledgment from the one you hate. To crave it. 

Because that's what she really wants, that's the  _true_ endgame.

Kidnapping Ben? For Mal.

Demanding the wand? For Mal.

Sneaking onto Auradon and spelling Ben? For Mal

Harry internally winces. He should rephrase that. It wasn't  _all_ for Mal. Uma genuinely wanted to get off the Isle and free most of the inhabitants...she just wanted to get her revenge over Mal while doing it. Sometimes though, she happened to confuse the two. To infuse them until they were one and the same.

It made Harry's head hurt. It's part of the reason why he didn't like to think about it. That and also because whatever Mal had done to Uma (because it had to be deeper than the shrimp incident...it  _had to be)_ cut deep. It left and open wound that just infected itself and inflamed over the years. And every time that Uma lost to Mal the wound just got more and more infected. Uma just kept falling down the empty black hole that lead to evil knows where. Willingly.

And Gil and Harry followed her. Willingly. 

Because what the hell were they supposed to do at this point? Was there even another option for them

"Can you still do it?" Uma randomly asked except it wasn't random. She knew that she was snapping him out of his thoughts. She was telepathic with him like that. Just like he was to her. Harry knew what she was implying. The plan. The goddamn plan. She'd warned him numerously that it would be harder than he thought it was. Getting close but staying unattached was like letting yourself breathe in air but holding it before it got to your lungs. Harry being Harry, brushed her off, thought she was being paranoid.

_"I'm not Mal. I can handle it."_

_"You don't have to be but...we'll see."_

The most beautifully messed up thing about this all was that he'd follow her. Come hell or high water, he'd follow her into that empty black hole.

"Can you do it?" She asks again. It's...gentle. Like she knows that he needs something to pull him back into reality. Harry can't help but wonder if she's asking the right question. Not if he _can_ but if he _will._ Because anyone can do anything given the proper motivation. So will he?

"I can." He says. She narrows her eyes, drink long forgotten. " _Can_ you do it?" Uma's caught on. He tilts his head and looks in her eyes. There's nothing but curiosity and limbo. Like he said, he'd follow her down that black empty hole no matter where it led.

To hell or high water.

"I  _will."_   _I think. I can't. I hope. I can._

To oblivion.

Harry grabs a drink and goes back to staring out the window. To look at the passing world.

To look at the stars. 

To stare in oblivion. 

* * *

The limos drove on for hours. To pass the time, various car games were played by Ben and the other occupants. And by games it was more like the most bizarre dares they could do while in the back of a car. Answer: Quite a lot.

_Next time we stop, you have to get out and lick a tire._

_Head out the window for the next mile. Good luck avoiding the tree branches._

_Eat this combo of food and if you throw up in here, you're cleaning it up._

_If I can get the disco ball working you are SO doing the disco!_

It was fun if not entirely strange. Ben probably would've enjoyed it more if it wasn't for the unrelenting churning of guilt in his stomach. He'd tasted nothing but blood for hours. The night had left and dawn was slowly taking over the skies. The occupants of the limo had yet to rest. Lonnie and Jay were sitting on the floor on their third arm wrestling match for a tie breaker and Carlos was acting as referee. Mal was taking joy in playing with Dude and literally talking him down from eating Evie's makeup bag while Evie and Jane were talking in the corner. Everybody was having a great time...except for Ben.

But the reasoning for that was quite obvious.

Ben had figured that he'd keep the kiss between him and Harry to himself until after the vacation, that way, there might just be the least amount of casualties. Ben really didn't want to be the one to ruin his friends first actually nice vacation because he couldn't keep his mouth shut for a few days. Besides, what good would come out of telling the truth at this very moment? Everything would become tense and awkward regardless if they, by some miracle, decided to keep vacationing or go back. Jay would mutilate him, Evie would use some of her unspoken witchy _talents_ to slip him a poison apple or seven (though he knew that she was  _much_ more original than that) and Carlos...Jesus, who even knew what Carlos would do? But even more importantly, Mal would be hurt.

And nothing was worth that. Not even drowning in his own guilt.

Besides, his friends need this vacation more than him. They didn't show it but Ben knew that the lunchtime incident bothered them more than they let on. He's by no means an expert on the four of them but he's not an idiot either. It's almost as if he can smell the emotions which, now that he thinks about it, might be one of his added...perks. That or he's going crazy.

Both are two very likely options at this point but since he was already thinking about it...

"Hey guys?" Ben started. Several pairs of eyes looked up at him even Jay and Lonnie's who were still arm wrestling. "I really don't want to be the one who brings this up, especially right now but...what happened after I left lunch yesterday?"

Awkward glances skirted across the room as everyone avoided answering the question. Most had gone back to tentatively and silent going back to what they were doing previously except for Evie who was sitting there fuming. "What didn't happen after you left." Evie sneered as she asked a question that didn't really sound like a question.

"She's kind of right." Carlos said, "Things blew up pretty quickly after you left."

"Like what?" Ben asked. More awkward looks went around. It felt like the equivalent of: _no you tell him. No, YOU tell him._ Finally, Lonnie was the one to break the silence even though most of her focus was on beating Jay. "After you left it was as if Audrey was waiting for the perfect moment for you to leave."

Jay snorted from his position. " 'As if'? Butter my butt and call me toast. You know for a  _fact_ that she waited for Ben to leave so her and her princess soldiers could strike."

'Butter my butt and call me toast?' It looked like Jay had been spending enough time around Fairy Godmother and Jane if he was starting to pick up their dialect. The thought of it almost made Ben laugh. Even Jane had a rather pleased look on her face.

"I was in the middle of telling everybody about the festival when Audrey came up and interrupted me." Lonnie started only for Jay to cut in. "Interrupted? That's the word you wanna go with?" He teasingly asked while ironically, interrupting Lonnie himself. She smacked him on the arm with her free hand as retribution.

"As I was saying," She shot a look at Jay, "you had just left and I was going on about the festival..."

* * *

 

**_Yesterday. Auradon Prep Lunchtime. Outside fields._ **

_Mal threw a piece of tomato  at Jay's face aiming for his nose but missed and it hit his right cheek. Oh well. That's what he gets for trying to steal her strawberry. The whole table watches as Jay laughs as he plucks the tomato piece off his cheek and pops it into his mind. The other VK's paid it no mind. Back on the Isle, more often then not, they had been forced it eat much worse food under much more horrible conditions so a piece of tomato was nothing. It was almost welcomed in fact._

_"Alright, alright, alright." Lonnie said in between laughs. "I need to tell you guys about your rooms."_

_"What rooms?" An outside voice chipped in. All of the VK's had internally groaned though their outside faces might've shown their grimaces. They all knew who that voice belonged to. Jay dramatically dropped one of his cheeseburgers. "Damn, and I was going to enjoy that too." Jay mumbled to himself, looking solemnly at his burger because he just knew that this person was going to make him lose his appetite at least for a little bit._

_And that was a damn hard thing to do._

_Evie cleared her throat before speaking. "To what do we owe the pleasure, Audrey?"_

_Audrey smiled as she flipped her hair over her shoulder. It seemed to act as a signal or beacon because not even a second after her hair fell, two more princesses appeared next to her. "As I'm sure the pleasure is yours, I simply had a question to ask." It didn't matter if you from the Isle or Auradon, everyone at the table knew that her question wasn't going to be so simple. Mal knew this most of all which is what prompted her to speak._

_"Which is?" Mal asked with a disinterested closed lipped smile. If there was a hint of a warning in her voice, it was there on purpose. The Isle taught Mal to be ruthless. Auradon taught her sharp politeness. Each one dangerous in it's own rig_

_"I was just wondering..." Audrey stalled as she trailed off, trying to build suspense. The only reaction she got from Mal was a raised eyebrow. "You...lot are  a rowdy bunch right?" She asked with a fake smile._

_"We're certainly not a tame bunch." Mal fired back. "Well what would you do if someone took something that was yours? Would you let them get away with it?" The entire table bristled. Not one touched their food, Audrey's question tasted like poison and if Mal wasn't careful, she'd be the one choking on it._

_Mal wasn't stupid. She knew what was Audrey was hinting at or rather who Audrey was hinting at. In all technicalities, Mal did steal her boyfriend and wasn't entirely subtle about it. At the time when Mal committed the wrong doing she didn't care but now she did...or at least she cared enough to fix it._

_Mal closed her eyes and exhaled before she spoke, for once, trying to pick her words carefully. "Look Audrey, I am sorry about how me and Ben got together at your expense. It happened at a time where I didn't care about who I hurt while completing my mother's plan but now I do. I know that you're hurt and for that, I'm sorry."_

_Silence washed over all of them. Audrey kept a blank look on her face and Mal didn't know if that was a good or bad thing. She was going to ask if everything was okay until one of Audrey's nameless princess minions spoke up from behind her._

_"Who says that's the only thing you stole?"_

_Just like that, Audrey's expressionless face turned into a sneer with daggers in her eyes. Mal was puzzled. The girl didn't have two boyfriends. Granted there was Chad but Audrey could have him. Mal tried to focus on the facts. When Audrey was dating Ben she made sure that everyone, especially the VK's, knew that she was with him. Audrey and the future king. That she would be the future-_

_Oh, Goblins._

_That was the other thing that she was mad about wasn't it? Again, Mal wasn't stupid, she knew that Ben and Audrey had been together for awhile. Long enough that everyone had assumed that Audrey would be accepting the crown with Ben._

_And Mal had practically stolen her birthright._

_Shit._

_"Audrey," Mal said tentatively, slowly getting up to better face the girl, "I can't give you the crown. I can do magic and breathe fire but I can't get you that crown." Mal completely  understood where Audrey was coming from. If someone else had gotten her mother's staff instead of her, she would've raised hell but what she said was true. She couldn't get Audrey the crown, not unless she stole it and plopped it onto Audrey's head herself._

_"You wouldn't need to if you hadn't stolen it in the first place." The Aurorian princess sneered._

_"That's the thing though, I never meant to! I didn't know that I would stay in Auradon this long, that I would stay with Ben, that I would maybe inherit a country someday. I didn't know. But Audrey..." Mal trailed off to look at Evie and gave her a small smile. Evie sent one back before Mal faced Audrey again, "You don't need a crown to be a queen."_

_Audrey's face had gone from a sneer or impassiveness to one of pure shock. It made Mal curious. Huh. Maybe Isle parents weren't the only ones who were crap at supporting their children. From what she heard from Evie and Ben, Prince Phillip was a bit of a nightmare and Aurora was just a little too docile for her liking._

_Mal thought the conversation was over since no one said anything. She had said what she needed to say so the purple haired girl sat down and slowly began to eat her sandwich again. So did the rest of the table. Mal spied Audrey's retreating form. She thought it was over...how wrong she was._

_Because she hadn't known what cold, greasy spaghetti felt like until now._

_"Trash food for the trash girl." The nameless princess from before said as she finished dumping a tray of spaghetti from the trash on Mal's head. She could feel it crawling down her back and sticking to her neck and clinging to her hair. It felt like a hundred skinny worms. Evie and Jane rushed to her side to help but Mal waved them off. "AUDREY!" Mal stood up and boomed, "DID YOU SEND ONE OF YOUR MINIONS TO DO THIS?"_

_Audrey turned around and headed back, confusion etched on her face. "What the? I didn't ask for this."  She said, glaring at the princess who did this. Evie rolled her eyes. "Yeah right, you've been gunning for us, especially Mal, ever since we got here."_

_"True, but I didn't do this." Mal shook her head. "Goddammit Audrey, I said that I was sorry!" Mal rocked the table with her fists when she hit it with her newfound strength for emphasis. Unfortunately, this was lunch and there was food scattered all around the table. Including a certain chocolate pudding that was in right in the line of fire of Mal's fists. It splattered open and sprayed Audrey with it contents. And was Auradon pudding different from regular pudding because there was a lot of it._

_A LOT._

_For a second, no one did anything. They just stared at the front of Audrey's formerly peach dress in shock._

_And then Audrey screamed._

_Which started to draw attention. Which was especially bad because when was crowds formed before a fight ever a good thing? Especially for the VK's?_

_Oh, that's right...never._

_Even as the crowd came and grew, Audrey and Mal continued to glare each other down. If there ever was the last chance the back down, it was now._

_Neither one of them backed down._

_"Should've known that no amount of time here would change your ways and absolve you of your mistakes." Audrey snapped. Mal scoffed, "Change my way? Absolve me of my mistakes? Gee, I thought only villains spoke like that. Wonder what that makes you?"_

_"Make all the jokes you want, it's over. Look around."  Audrey gestured to the crowd. It had gotten bigger in the span of what felt like a few seconds and none of them looked happy. More like angry and fearful, a very dangerous_ _combination. On the, slightly ironically, bright side, Jane and Lonnie were trying to talk down the crowd while Jay, Evie and Carlos stood behind her ready to defend and fighting off the crowd._

_"It's never over. I don't if you know this but fairytale's have a really odd way ending. There always seems to be this little twist that keeps the story going someway, somehow." Mal said._

_"Twist or not, I think your little fairytale is over. Over on Auradon at least."_

_"Says who?"_

_"Says everybody. I repeat, look around. So why don't you do us all a favor by taking yourself and all your wannabe Auradorian friends back to that floating piece of garbage that you call a home."_

_Mal felt her blood boil and her eyes blurred. It would only be a matter of second until her eyes to green or worse, she spewed literal fire instead of insults at Audrey instead. She'd have to apologize to Fairy Godmother and maybe Ben later for sending the little princess to sleep. The girl was less irksome when she was asleep Mal bets._

_"Watch it. Those who attack my friends don't fare very well."_

_"What're you going to do? Fight the entire student body? Do it, it'll only prove my point."_

_"Contrary to what you delude yourself with, the whole world doesn't revolve around you, Princess." Mal spat the word 'princess' like it was poison. A poison that was working its affect on Audrey. "I don't need the whole world around me, I just need you gone. Don't you get it, no one wants you here. I'm pretty sure that the only reason why he hasn't tossed you and your little groupies yet is for some twisted sense of guilt or something. Did you really think that he could love a villain kid?"_

_"Do not throw the first punch." Mal concentrated, "DO NOT THROW THE FIRST-"_

_"You're looking a bit low on food? How about I help out a bit?" Mal had barely a second to reply before a chocolate milk carton was being splashed on her._ _Instinctively, Mal blocked it with her arms so must of the milk just drenched her sleeves. "More pudding?" Mal bit out before levitating three pudding cups and hurling them at Audrey. They all exploded on the princess's dress creating an even bigger mess in the front._

_"HEY! WHAT DO YOU THINK THAT YOU'RE DOING?" A voice spoke out from the crowd. None of the VK's even bothered to suppress their groan when they saw Chad appear. "Mal! I saw that! You're not going to get away with that!"_

_Another voice cut Mal off before she could even speak. "Hey man, I mean this in the least possible mean way when I say to shut up." Jay said. Chad crossed his arms. "No." Jay rolled his eyes. "Listen to me! I know that you can't take a hint so I'm spelling it out for you. Back. Off."_

_Chad raised his chin in defiance."Or what? Gonna put me to sleep again?" Jay started to walk up to the boy to show him what he was going to do before Mal stopped him. "Not worth it. Go help Lonnie."_

_"Poor little dragon girl. Can't fight her battles alone." Audrey taunted. Green eyes glowing, fists closed, teeth clench Mal was ready to show Audrey a fight before one of Jay's outstretched arms stopped her. The other one was pointed towards the lovely ex couple. "Hope you don't mind but I think that I'm needed here." Jay replied with a small smirk. Even in times of chaos, Jay was keeping things light._

_Until someone screamed that Evie was a piece of Isle Trash and threw mashed potatoes at her._

_Then everything went straight to hell._

_There were screams and shouts and the food acted as a weapon and the other students acted as if they were cannon fodder. Jay was lost to the depths of the crowd, Carlos and Jane were evil knows where but that didn't matter right now. All that mattered to Mal was just how she was going to wring Audrey's petite neck._

_But then there was this sound, this...roar that changed everything._

_All the birds in the surrounding area flew away and everything went quiet. Mal had looked away from Audrey, the girl was forgotten, for Mal wanted to see where that sound came from. It was so loud, so guttural, so raw._

_In some sort of twisted way it only made sense that she found Ben there. Or a least, a version of Ben because unless Mal was losing it, Ben from twenty minutes ago didn't have fangs and claws right? His roars were adorable, soft and sweet, not...shocking and bone-chilling...right?_

_"Ben?"_

* * *

 

"-and well you know what happens from there." Lonnie finished. She and Jay had stopped arm wrestling at some point and were now sitting on the seats opposite of Ben.  _  
_

 "...Wow." Ben intelligently replied because really, what else could he say? I'm sorry that my ex-girlfriend can be a nightmare from hell? I promise that she wasn't always like this!

"Yup." Mal added next to him.

"So..." Ben began, "It was just one massive misunderstanding?" He asked the girl next to him.

"I guess."

"But one thing doesn't make any sense. Mal, did you know that Audrey wasn't responsible for the original spaghetti attack?"

She shrugged, "In a vague, distant way I think I knew she was innocent that first time."

"Then why continue to antagonize her? Especially if that's what she wanted?"

"That's the thing though." Mal defended, "I never meant to let that continue. When Audrey said that she didn't know about the spaghetti, I was more frustrated with the situation - and that annoying little nameless princess - than with anyone else. When I hit the table that was just so I could focus my aggression. I had no idea about the pudding or that it would land on Audrey and when she screamed and the crowd came over, of course Audrey wouldn't let herself be seen 'losing' to a VK so the fight just..." Mal trailed off to make an explosion motion with her hands.

"For what it's worth," Mal continued, "I am sorry for my part in what happened." Ben waved her apology off. "Don't be. Crap situation with, frankly, kinda crap people. There wasn't so much that you could do short of running away and I saw that crowd. You would've quite literally had to take flight to escape."

Mal smiled. "Glad to know I have you on my side to not feel guilty. It would kill me if I kept something big from you." And just like that, the guilt firmly settled in Ben's chest set on fire and the heat just spread like quicksilver. His words ran dry. How in the world was he going to keep this secret all weekend when his movement hurt like fire and his words tasted like ash?

He didn't think that he could. It would consume him and burn him down until he broke.

"As touching as that mini emotional moment was," Jay started, "I'M. STARVING."

"On the bright side, the drivers stopped for gas and there's a little connivence store across the street." Lonnie pointed out. Jane, Evie and Carlos looked pleased about that while Jay just had a confused look on his face. "Wait a second...the limos run on gas?!"

Carlos face palmed himself while Evie shook her head at the beanie clad boy. "What did you think that they ran on?" Evie asked. Jay shrugged. "It's Auradon! I thought it was just like an endless stream of magic that powered the limos."

"I think you're thinking of the magic carpet." Lonnie corrected and Jay looked thoughtful. Carlos spoke up, "While Jay's having his lifetime awakening, can we please get some chocolate? Or peanut butter? Or better yet, chocolate  _and_ peanut butter? And dog treats for Dude." He mentioned thoughtfully before bending down to scratch Dude behind the ears.

"That's fine but we're also getting sour patches." Lonnie conceded.

"And lemon water." Evie added. Jay scoffed. "Lemon water? Really Eves? Live a little princess blueberry, you're getting lemonade if not for yourself then for my sanity. Please." Evie responded by throwing an empty can at Jay who was still on the floor next to Lonnie.

"May we please get sunflower seeds as well?" Jane asked only slightly timidly. "Of course." Most of the occupants of limo said simultaneously. "And something strawberry flavored for Mal." Carlos inputed. Evie looked over at Mal to see if they had her okay but saw Ben instead who look pale and slightly sick.

"You okay Ben? You don't look so good. Do you want us to get you anything from the store?" Evie asked with a touch of concern. He really didn't look too good. Maybe it was all this time in the limo. Different body heats mixing and such. Ben didn't reply but instead faintly shook his head. Mal touched his arm in confusion. What was wrong with him?

The others in the car stopped their idle conversation of food and focused on Ben as well. They glanced around in confusion at each other as if someone had the answer as to what was wrong with him.

"Do you need to lie down?"

"Do you want to go back?"

"Is your transformations making you feel off?"

"Are you even okay?"

Ben plopped his head against the car seat and closed his eyes and clenched his teeth. His mouth tasted like copper and ash and he knew that his eyes were glowing blue underneath his eyelids. It wasn't that he was afraid to show his friends his eyes, it was that he was trying to get some semblance of control back. He would accept anything at this point.

Just breathe.

Just breathe.

Just-

"Harry and I kissed." Ben blurted out and the whole car went silent. Even Dude, who had been happily rolling around in wrappers had stopped as if he could feel the change in the air. No one spoke. No one moved. For goodness knows how long, no one did anything.

 _"This is it."_ Ben thought,  _"This is the moment where I lose all of my friends. The only people who treated me like a person and not a king or a beast or a puppet for the kingdom. I've lost them. Hell, I've **sacrificed** them."_

And Ben doesn't know if the stars and planet aligned, or if fate just decided to be merciful to him for once but he does know that Evie is heaven sent.

"Okay, let's go. We're supposed to go to the convenance store right? Well what're we waiting for? Let's go! Everybody up! Mal, don't worry, I'll get you the most strawberriest flavored thing that I can find." Evie announced and in under a minute she was able to get everybody, including Dude, out of the car and heading for the store with no mess and no fuss.

That girl is magic personified.

Again the car was plunged in silence. Mal hadn't said anything and Ben (after waiting for his blue eyes to disappear) couldn't even think of what to say except this: "If you want to break up, I understand. You all can still go on vacation, I'll just take one of the limos back to school." When Mal didn't say anything, he figured that she was just thinking of some way to really let him have it. Instead, she cocked her head to the side and looked at him confused. "I'm not breaking up with you."

"Look, I'm sorry, I didn't want to ruin this trip for you and the rest, you can still hopefully have fun and...wait...what?"

"I'm. Not. Breaking. Up. With. You." Mal reiterated. Ben was baffled. "Did you miss the part where I said that I kissed Harry?"

She shook her head.

"Harry. The pirate...like yea big, wears a hook and pirate hat and is the first mate to your self proclaimed sworn enemy?" Mal shifted in her seat to look at Ben better. "Maybe you should tell me what happened." She suggested and he did because, what else could he do?

"So to be correct, you weren't the one who initiated the kiss right?"

"Yes, but I didn't pull away, at least not for...awhile."

"Right, you reciprocated the kiss. And Harry kissed you after he saw that you got his hook back?" Ben nodded. "His most prized possession." Ben tipped his head. "Where're you going with this?"

Mal smiled and cupped his face with both hands. "You, Ol' Benny Boy, are a sweet, naive, thoughtful, considerate, idiot."

"This is the weirdest break up ever."

"I'm not breaking up with you!" Mal laughed, "Not unless you want me to but, jeez, I completely forget how different it is here than on the Isle." Ben raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Listen, I've known Harry a lot longer than you have and he's never been shy with affection, even with the people that he hates. Do you know how many times he's flirted with Carlos and Jay just to get on their nerves? I also know that his hook is  _priceless_ to him, I'm surprised that he didn't quite literally storm the castle in order to get it back. And you Ben, you with your charm and genuine goodness, got it back for him just because you wanted to. No ulterior motive in mind.

She held up her left thumb to show of her black, jagged oval ring, "You see this ring? It's my mom's and I wear it practically everywhere, everyday. If I had to give it up and you got it back for me, if weren't already dating I would've kissed you myself too."

"So...it's okay that we kissed?" Ben asked, still kind of confused. Mal scrunched her nose and made a considering face, "Yes and no. In this instance...it's acceptable. If he were trying to get in your pants I...honestly, wouldn't blame him but would also have a problem with that but Ben, you also told me the truth, which counts more than anything as someone who grew up with lies and deceit.

"So everything's everything's good?"

"Everything's so good that, not only are you still vacationing with us but you should spend some time with Harry while you do it." If Ben's eyes bugged out of his head, could you blame him? "Who are you and what've you done with my girlfriend?"

"I'm serious. Evie invited Uma out for lunch, Doug takes Gil out for weekly milkshakes. I think you can extend an olive branch to Harry as well. This isn't the Isle...we can be good here."

Ben looked at his girlfriend in awe and amazement. It felt good that he could still call her his girlfriend, "Have I ever told you that you are the best...everything ever?"

She noncommittally shrugged, "It may have come up once or twice but I am curious about something...who's the better kisser, me, Audrey or Harry?"

Ben flushed and Mal laughed.

* * *

 

After about fifteen minutes, the gang returned from the store. As promised, they got Mal the most strawberriest flavored thing they could find which was a flavor popping gum and even managed to get Ben a little bag of trail mix.

Ben and Mal left the limo and were waiting outside to stretch their legs when they saw their friends snacking on what they got. "Everything good?" Evie asked while handing Mal and Ben their stuff and sipping her lemonade. She'd relented on the lemon water because Jay wouldn't shut up about the evils of the wannabe lemonade drink.

Both of them nodded and went as far as to put an arm around each other as to prove a point. Evie nodded approvingly, "Good, I'd hate to have to kill you Ben before we all go to enjoy ourselves."

"Agreed." Went the other four. The sun was out and dawn was here, it was a nice day. Ben had told the truth and still had his friends and girlfriend. For the first time in over a whole day he could finally  _breathe._

And it lasted a grand total of twelve seconds.

Because in the distance, Ben heard a car coming before anyone else could even see it but Mal sensed it too. "Does anyone one else hear that?" She asked.

"Hear what?" Jay asked with chips slurring his words.

"Look!" Carlos pointed out into the distance. A blue Toyota was coming out of the woodworks to stop behind one of the limos. Ben knew that car. He'd seen ever since the owner had turned fourteen as a 'before you're sixteen' birthday gift.

"Please God no. Let it be anyone, literally else then who I think it is." Ben begged to no one.

"Who is it?" Evie asked. Her question would be answered as not just one, but two people came out of the car and everybody stared in disbelief. 

"Aargh!" Jay yelled, "YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! Can't we have a break? JUST ONE FREAKING BREAK?!"

Everybody stared as the two people from the car came out and approach them. "Well hello, road trip buddies! You didn't think that you could start the party without us did you?"

The six of them groaned and glowered as the saw who would be joining their trip: Audrey and Chad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not the best start to a vacation but hey, it's a start. It's only gonna get better (or worse!) from here...depends on your viewpoint. This chapter was a bitch and a half to write. SO. MANY. COMPLICATIONS. I might cry when I finally post this demon chapter. I'd like to clarify something about Mal's response. She grew up with the socially unaccepted so I'm kind of writing her being okay with more socially unaccepted then most people would be okay with but still within her comfort zone. I think it mattered more to Mal that Ben confessed the truth this early on then hiding from her. I've seen that in many cases of cheating, accidental or not, the thing that hurts more than the deed itself are the lies that come after it. But then again, like Jon Snow, I. KNOW. NOTHING. 
> 
> Little PSA: Don't cheat on your significant others and if you do, (NOT JUDGING) I'd advise on telling them the truth but I repeat that I know nothing.
> 
> P.S For all you Harry/Ben shippers or general people who maybe think that this is the end of them...you can't tell but I'm laughing as I write this because darling, we're not even close to being done. See you...eventually!


	17. High Hopes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maybe there's hope after all. Even for the worst of us

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been two hours since I posted the last chapter. Granted, I don't know when I'm going to post this chapter but I felt the need to write that down.
> 
> Warning: Lots of dialouge. Very character driven chapter. It's a little bit of a filler chapter but still kind of important.
> 
> Enjoy!...I hope!

You know those old cowboy movies where it's the climax of the movie and the protagonist and antagonist are about to have a showdown? Preferably at the high time of noon? Well, that anticipation kind of felt like this moment.

Except right now was  _way_ more awkward.

Instead of it just being two guys holding up guns at each other it was seven versus two. The growing band of freaks versus the preppiest prep pupils you'd ever meet. One was armed with snacks and the other with a mirror and suntan lotion.

It was times like these where Ben truly questioned what his life was doing with him. He'd given up trying to figure out such a long time ago but every now and then, he wished he tried figuring it out like some weird type of hobby.

But enough of that...

The situation at hand was much more pressing because while Ben could potentially lose his mind, someone right here, right now, might lose an eye.

The two groups stood there in painfully loud silence until, like always, Jay decided to break the silence. It wasn't the only thing he wanted to break.

"What do you two think you're doing here? Haven't you caused enough damage? Actually, forget that. I'll show you damage." He threatened, shoving his food into Carlos's arms before storming up to them only to be stopped halfway by Ben.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Jay, calm down, breathe. What do you want to do right now?" Ben asked, hoping for a non-homicidal answer. Jay grimaced. "Since those two constantly wanna talk and act like their heads are in the sand, I think that I'm gonna put it there myself." He answered, trying to walk again but moved only minutely thanks to Ben holding him back.

"Jay, listen, I get that you're upset but you can't just go around beating people to the ground." Ben reasoned. He risked a glance behind him to look at Audrey and Chad and he almost wishes that he didn't. Those two didn't even look slightly remorseful. While Chad had his healthy dose of fear, he stood strong behind Audrey who's face was as blank as a sleeping beauty.

Oh.

 _Now,_ he gets the family resemblance because to be honest, Audrey looks nothing like her parents. Nevertheless, his attention is brought forward by a snort from Jay.

"I can't? Watch me. You clearly don't know me very well. 'Can't' isn't really in my vocabulary." Jay huffed before surprisingly taking a few steps back. For a second, Ben was relieved. He thought that Jay was starting to relax and that they could all figure out what to do next while being civil.

That was before Jay had sucker punched him in the face. 

Before today, Ben had never known what dirt on the side of the road tasted like. Now, he's slightly worried that's all he'll ever taste. 

Ben distantly heard multiple voices call out for him and his now blurry vision could make out a purple blob shove Jay backwards. It took him a few minutes to realize that he was leaning on Jane and Lonnie for support. He tried to listen in as the voices got louder and his vision cleared up.

"Ben, are you okay?"

"BENNY-BOO! What have you done you vicious brute?!"

"Back off Audrey! You too Chad."

"Ben, how many fingers am I holding up?"

"Holy shit dude." That last one, he recognized to be Carlos. The smaller boy was in front of him inspecting his eye. "What is it?" Ben tried to ask but being punched (by Jay at least) really takes a lot out of you because it came out more like: "Waizit?" 

"Hope you like the color purple on people that isn't Mal because you're sporting a shiny one right now on your left." Ben was surprised that Carlos could understand him, never mind answer him. Jay sucked some air in between his teeth. "Look, I'm sorry man, I'm not mad at you, I'm not but...that was for Mal."

Ben understood.

Really, he did.

He would've done the exact same thing had something like what he's done happened to Lonnie. Besides, the wound didn't even hurt that much. In fact, he could barely feel it.

Hell, he  _couldn't_ feel it.

"Holy. Shit." Carlos repeated. This time more in awe, shock and amazement than concern. "It-It...it's gone! It healed!" Evie stepped forward next to Carlos, invading in on Ben's bubble to see for herself. "Oh my God, you're right. It is gone!"

"But...how?" Carlos asked, puzzled. Evie shrugged and smirked as she backed away. "Must be another one of those Beast perks of yours."

Ben tentatively raised a finger to his eye to inspect the damage only to his surprise, he felt nothing but healed skin. If it wasn't that the fact that he was the one who just got punched less then five minutes ago, he wouldn't have believed the story himself. He could feel it running through his veins. The Beast Gene and it's undiscovered glory.

_The...gift that keeps on giving._

Slowly, Ben lifted his hands off of Lonnie and Jane and took a few deep breaths before speaking. He shot a small and quick smile to Mal to show that he was okay...and to not curse Jay with green hair for a week...again.

Though he might have to reconsider that because it was pretty funny when it happened the first time.

"Well," He began, "Now that the proverbial glove has been thrown...literally, I say that we all hash this out as peacefully as we can without anymore violence. Anybody with me?"

Jay snorted, "What's there to discuss. Ben, I apologized. You two," The beanie clad boy turned to Chad and Audrey, "go back to school because for you guys, I'll be  _far_ from sorry."

"How are you guys even here right now?" Lonnie questioned. Audrey gave a mild shrug and an all knowing smile before answering. "Wasn't that hard. A little of this, a little of that, a little of reminding Fairy Godmother of the unfairness of letting one half of the school fight go on vacation and the possible...repercussions of that."

"You threatened my mom?" Jane spoke out, a hint of edge in her voice. It almost caused Ben to do a double-take. Carlos did, but it was more in surprised awe instead of total shock.

Audrey laughed, "No threats just a friendly little...reminder. She was more than willing to let us go."

"Speaking of going places," Mal said, "How are you here?" She asked, gesturing to Chad. He, like everyone else, shrugged in his response. "Fairy Godmother allowed it so here I am. Life is a bit easier when the headmistress is your actual Godmother."

"Favoritism at it's finest." Evie muttered around her straw but not low enough as Chad was able to comprehend what she said. "Favoritism? Oh I wish. She was more then clear that if I misbehaved in anyway, the next thing that would be turning into a pumpkin would be me and I can get a bit claustrophobic at times.

"Think of it as your ego slowly suffocating you. It sure does suffocate us." Jay said. Chad continued on as if Jay never spoke. "Consider this a redemption trip." The others around, including Audrey, all raised an eyebrow or two. 

Chad rolled his eyes. "I know, I know, you don't believe me but despite the fact that I'm here with Audrey." The prince took a moment to breathe before continuing. Whatever he had to say was burning him to the core, it made everyone curious as to what it was, "I just wanted to say that I'm...sorry for my part in the lunchroom fight. And that's all you're getting from me." He finished if not more than a bit petulant. It was made more abundant as he crossed his arms with a pout and scowl hybrid on his face.

They all stood in the street...baffled. Even Dude tilted his head in confusion.

"Do I have fur in my ears or did Chad just apologize to us?" Carlos asked while checking his ears. "I must have that too because that sure seemed like an apology...I think." Evie said. Ben took advantage of the moment of confusion to speed things along and to keep things peaceful.

"Well now that that's been...settled...sort of...there should be some ground rules. Now I'm not trying to tell you guys what to do but this is supposed to be a vacation. Time  _away_ from all the chaos that happens at school. If either group," he pushes his point by looking at each side, "goes after the other in any way that isn't friendly...you're going back to school. No, we won't tell Fairy Godmother unless it's something severe but you can't stay and that includes myself. I'm not asking for all of us to hold hands and sing Kumbaya every night by the fire at sunset but I am asking to keep the peace...no matter how weak it is. Do you think we can all do it?"

Looks were scattered around the individuals before giving Ben a slow nod. Ben could feel his claws curling.

_Thank. God._

"Good. Audrey, I'm assuming that you've been following the limos. Just keep doing what you were doing. Now, can we  _please_ get back on the road?"

Jay, the little smart ass, had to make a remark, "Aren't we already on the road?" The three other VK's promptly rolled their eyes before speaking on behalf of the entirety.

"Jay...shut up."

* * *

 

They've stopped. Why have they stopped?

Harry looked up from his phone to see what was going on. His soda from before was long forgotten. In fact, Gil was using it now to build his little soda castle. Harry figured he'd let Gil use five more cans before knocking it over. He tore his gaze away from Gil's creation to look out the limo.

The group from the limo before them had gotten out except Mal and Ben weren't with the rest of them. He had to stare out the window for a few minutes before the two of them got out. A part of Harry didn't want to know what they were doing alone, another part, the part that asked all the questions, wanted to go over there and find out himself.

As he continued spying, he saw two people that looked eerily familiar step out of a blue car. They all seemed to just be talking if not a bit heatedly. Harry was about to spend his attention on his phone again until he saw Jay punch Ben in the face and Ben fall to the ground.

_That slimy little street rat!_

Harry didn't even comprehend that he was almost out the door until Uma pulled him back and shut the door again before sitting back down in her original position. "Pretty strong reaction for someone who's just Beastie's sword teacher." She mentioned coyly.

So Uma had seen Ben go down too but unlike Harry, she stayed cool and collected. In his own defense, Harry was pretty much known for being impulsive and having a short fuse. A fuse that he would happily let go off on Jay if he had the chance but alas, the game is still in motion and Harry had to make his move.

"Wouldn't want broken merchandise now would we?" He asked, hoping he looked less unhinged than he felt. Uma scoffed but kept a smirk on her face. "If only it was just that."

_Don't fall for the bait. Don't fall for the bait. Do. Not. Fall. For. The. Ba-_

_"_ And what's that supposed to mean?" Harry stupidly inquired. Gil watched on, soda castle left behind, giving the scene in front of him all his attention. It was interesting but terrifying. Power plays were never easy to watch. Especially between his closest/only friends.

Uma cocked her head to the side. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. Don't play dumb, pirate. That is if you still are a pirate, or would you rather be the king's little project and play toy instead?" 

Harry's blood boiled, it scorched. He could feel his nails press into his hands drawing blood along with his tongue that he had wisely bit down on to refrain from talking because this is what Uma wanted. The notorious blinding rage and reckless impulse that made him infamous on the Isle. Hard to feel bad when all you see is red.  When wall you feel is rage an all you crave is to turn your pain into someone else's torment. And the darker parts of him that were still very much there had to admit...

It made him a damn good pirate.

But Harry wasn't stupid. A lifetime of living with a man who was constantly on the tipping point of madness and murder gave him experience. It gave him knowledge on how to manipulate other's emotions and how to spot the signs of manipulation.

It was why no matter what Uma did, she wouldn't win this round.

At least not today.

Although, Harry's confidence dipped a bit when Uma's smirk turned into a smile as she relaxed into the seat. "Good to know you're still there."

"Haven't gone anywhere."

She crossed her arms, "Yet." Uma turned to look out of her own set of windows. "Looks like Beastie and his buddies got everything sorted out." Soon enough, the car started driving as Uma went back relaxing (as much as she would let herself) and Gil went back to his castle.

Harry stayed silent. This would usually be around the time where he would drift off into the plan. Finding flaws, adding more schemes, drifting off into the Oblivion for Uma but today was different.

Today, Harry had enough strength and resistance in what felt like forever to tell Oblivion to shove it.

If only for a little while.

* * *

As the limos drove and Audrey followed, the various groups waited in baited anticipation about what the Summerlands would be like.

Would it be large and vast with various areas to explore or warm and cozy for a close knit group?

Loud and colorful, unapologetic for it's brassness or simple and quiet like a nice night in or napping in a cozy bed? 

Answer?

It was so much better than that.

"Oh. My. Evil...Guys...look out the window,." Evie said with awe dripping in her voice. One by one, heads smooshed together to see the view of the mysterious Summerlands and not one was disappointed. It was everything they imagined and more. As they drove through the streets to their hotel, colors and music and the smell of food followed them. There were people dancing in the street and playing in the grass, cooking every piece of food they could find while getting drunk off their ass. People sang at the top of their lungs as they swayed with any and every partner. Banners and flyers and streamers were hung everywhere, confetti littered the ground. Everybody was crying in laughter and even waving at 'hello' at the limos that were driving through. And the best part?

The Summerlands Festival was just getting started.

Audrey and Chad drove with their mouths slightly agape. It was just the two of them so nobody had to know. Nobody had to know that Chad almost fell out the car window trying to follow the scent of food and wine either.

In The Sea Three's limo, Gil had accidentally knocked his tower over in surprise, not that he cared. This place was way too awesome to ignore. Uma and Harry lasted about three seconds of feigned disinterest before their curiosities got the best of them. And when they looked out the window, even they had to admit (even if it was just to themselves) being an Auradon kid  _and_ connected to the king definitely had its perks.

Back in Ben's limo, everyone shared the expression of wide eyes and open mouths. It didn't matter if you grew up on the Isle or Auradon, nobody there had seen  _anything_ like this. It was new for everyone and there was something that was kind of amazing about that.

"Oh yeah," Jay started slightly dazed, not really speaking to anyone in particular, "let's get this party started."

* * *

 

From the minute they all got out  of their respective vehicles, it took approximately twenty seconds to get to their assigned rooms. They had all talked about it earlier so there wouldn't be any awkward confusion. They've had enough of that to last the rest of their educational careers. Since the Summerlands were drastically more lax than Auradon Prep, they didn't really care who slept in what room and with whom. Though they did insist that Ben roomed alone in a room "fit for a king...or rather  _the_ king". Ben had equally insisted that he was fine sharing a room but that was a battle he lost to his friends.

("Seriously man just take the room, it'll be fine." Carlos reassured before gesturing to Dude to follow him. Thank Evilness that this place allowed pets. 

"It's not like we won't still be hanging out together. You're not getting rid of that easily." Mal teased before quickly pecking his cheek and running off to find the room that she'd be sharing with Evie.

"It'll be like we're at school but with less homework, thank God." Jay breathed out his words as he lifted both his and Carlos's luggage. Fast little shit left before Jay could throw his luggage to him.

"Just make sure to meet us in an hour in the lobby for the bonfire dinner...or is it lunch or hell, breakfast? I have no idea what this thing is saying." Evie muttered, studying an itinerary while walking off to follow Mal.)

Now Ben was by himself in a very grand and luxurious room. He figured that he could afford to change into something less formal for the time being. He was halfway through unbuttoning his dress shirt before there was a knock on the door.

"Come-" The person didn't even let him finish before entering his room. Luckily, it was only Jay but on one hand, Jay didn't really grasp the concept of not being decent. On the other hand, how indecent was half an unbuttoned shirt anyways?

"Hey Jay." Ben greeted while re-buttoning his shirt.

"Hey." Jay repeated, wanting to say what he wanted to say as quickly as possible. "Do you remember what I told you when you and Mal officially started dating?"

"Something along the lines of 'If I even dare to  _think_ about hurting her not even the royal guards will be able to save me.'" Ben answered without a beat. He remembered that day rather well actually. It had been a couple of weeks after his coronation and Jay had stormed into his office just like he did a few minutes ago demanding Ben's intentions and hurling out threats in honor of Mal. It kind of made Ben smile to see that the rough and tough (sometimes) former thief had a soft spot for those who he cared about.

_Never change Jay._

_"_ And do you remember why I told you that?" Jay continued.

"Because Mal and the others are the best family that you've got and you want to protect them, which of course I understand." Ben said. At the time Jay didn't say those exact words as they weren't that close yet. Though Ben hopes that overtime that they've gotten close enough that Ben can make a pretty accurate guess on at least some of Jays' feelings.

"It's not that I just want to protect them. No, they can do that all on their own." Jay started, taking a seat across Ben's bed, "It's that I don't want to see them hurt, not anymore. They've been through enough of that. I've been looking out for them for such a long time that it's pretty much instinct to go after anyone and everyone who gets on their bad side." He explained, "That being said, while I'm not sorry I punched you...I'm sorry that I punched you...that doesn't make much sense does it?"

Ben scrunched his nose in thought, "Yes...and no. I think I get what you mean. Like you're not sorry you defended Mal but you're sorry about how you did it...I think." Jay nodded in agreement and Ben shrugged, "I'm not sorry that you punched me either."

Jay smirked, "Yeah, I had a feeling. If it were anyone else I'd call bull but there's something about you that's just so-"

"Naive?"

"Honest." Jay corrected before standing, "Well, I've said my piece, I'll see you at dinner." He stopped at the door and turned to look back at Ben, "And thanks for telling us about Harry. Kinda can't blame you...I guess."

"What does that mean?"

Jay's smirk turned into a full blown grin. "It means that I'll see you at dinner."

* * *

Just as Ben had finished getting dressed he got a random sudden urge to talk to his parents. His dad to be specific. He scrambled through his bag for his phone and dialed a number he knew by heart and was delighted to hear his dad pick up.

"Benjamin?" Beast greeted. It almost took Ben's head for a spin. His parents were one of the few who still called him that and it made him realize that he hadn't spoken to his parents in quite awhile. Ben rather missed them.

"Hey Dad, how's the cruise going?" Ben started as he sat down on the bed to get more comfortable.

"Amazing, we're halfway to this sea in Scotland with a name I can't remember." Ben felt his heart pang at hearing the word Scotland but maybe it was just indigestion.

Yeah, that sounds believable.

"How's Mom?" Beast's laugh filled the phone as he answered his son's question, "I wouldn't know. We stopped at China for a bit and The Emperor sent over some new books. She hasn't come up for air ever since."

"Sounds like her." Ben smiled reminiscing over his childhood that was filled with more books than anything else.

"As nice as it is to hear from you and as sweet as it is for you to ask you about your mom, who still loves your present by the way, I take it that wasn't the reason why you called?" Beast guessed. Ben shrugged before realizing that his father couldn't see him. "I'm not sure why I called. Just wanted to check in I guess."

"Well how's everything going?"

"We're finally in the Summerlands." Ben said as he got up to look out the window, "And it's beautiful."

"...And everything else?"

"Define everything." There was a pregnant pause before Beast spoke again. "We heard about what happened at lunch."

"Everything's fine." Ben excused quickly. Mostly fine that is. He heard his father chuckle over the phone, "I'm not even on the same Continent as you and I know that you're lying."

"That's because you probably have some freaky ability to know when I'm lying." Ben defended, feeling slightly embarrassed from being called out.

"Actually I do and now, so do you but I know you're lying because you're a terrible liar."

"You and Mom raised me this way."

"And we have no regrets but you know you're gonna be okay right?"

"Mostly." Ben admitted. He still had some doubts. "I'll take it." Beast said, "But I will warn you that it's gonna get a whole lot worse before it gets better.,

"Think it already has." Ben muttered to himself. "Why?"

Ben's eyes bugged out, "You heard that?!" 

"Of course. One of my 'freaky abilities'. Thought you would've experienced it by now."

"Well...I haven't." Ben responded lamely.

"What have you experienced?"

"Let's see, the claws are annoying but not nearly as much as the teeth and the glowing blue eyes have been a lovely new addition." Ben listed sassily sweet.

"Seems to me that you're getting the most obvious changes to your body first. In that case, you have to keep a clear head and a clear heart. While you're transitioning right now all of those 'abilities' are set off by emotions."

"So...become a robot. Great. And what do you mean transition? I'm not gonna grow a tail right?" Ben asked pacing around the room.

"I don't know. You're my first cursed kid so I'm kind of playing it by ear." Beast sarcastically answered.

"Do I have any other abilities that I should know about?"

"Probably, but I have no way of knowing which ones or in what order or at what time. All I know is that the more you feel, the faster they'll come and unfortunately you most likely won't be able to really master any until you get all of them."

"Really am screwed then." Ben accidentally said aloud as his father listened.

"Why is that?" Contrary to what a lot of people assume, overtime Beast had gotten quite a bit of patience. Having a wife, kid and kingdom didn't really allow for hotheads. Not to say that he didn't have his moments sometimes.

"Just a few too many emotions running around." Ben spoke honestly because why lie? He was just told he was bad at it a couple of minutes ago. "Relationship problems?"

Ben snorted, "How'd you guess?"

"Because you're a slightly cursed teenage boy king." Beast joked, "Tell me about it."

Ben blabbed. From beginning to the end he blabbed. Of course he omitted certain details like names or any...emotionally physical moments but other then those small omits, Ben told his father the truth and he really hoped his father knew what to do.

Because he was clueless.

"Sounds like you're stuck in a war of hearts." Beast commented a beat after Ben had finished his story. Ben raised an eyebrow, forgetting again that his dad couldn't see him. "What does that mean?"

"Don't worry about that right now. What you should worry about is this...new person in the picture who is clearly turning your heart and head instead out...and Audrey. Especially Audrey."

"Why Audrey?"

"Because like it or not she's a very powerful princess and more importantly she's your friend...or she was...once upon a time." Ben ignored his father's obvious and horrible pun. "But with everything she's done...how am I supposed to-"

"Have you ever asked her why?" 

Wait, what? "Huh?" Ben asked intelligently. Beast repeated his question. "I guess not but what does that have to do with anything?"

"Maybe nothing, maybe everything but you'll never get her to stop if you don't even know why she's doing it in the first place?" Ben let out a short, dry laugh, "I think I can guess. She hasn't exactly been subtle with her intentions with me. I know you've seen it too even long before Mal came along."

"You're right, I have, but you and I both know that there's always more to the story. Now as for your mysterious, new friend..."

"What about them?"

"Sounds like they've really had quite an affect on you. If you don't know how to go to them, get them to open up to you." Ben snorted, "Yeah, this person isn't really into the whole touchy feely thing."

"As I expected but they probably desperately need some...touchy feeliness in their life and that's coming from personal experience."

"Dad, you don't understand, they're not just gonna be vulnerable with me out of the blue, or purple or red or any other color."

"I don't doubt that but sometimes son, you have to _give_ people an opening to be vulnerable with you."

* * *

 

Ben walked out of his hotel room feeling throughly perplexed. Give people an opening. What the heck does that mean? And how in the world could he even apply that to Harry? Or Audrey? But despite the fact that he was clueless, Ben was still determined to help the people he cared about. Even if he lost his mind trying which was a very likely possibility at thus point.

As the young man walked down the hall he spotted Audrey quickly dip into a room. Before his brain could catch up with his legs, Ben found himself standing in front of Audrey's door, knocking on it.

"Took you long eno- oh, hello Benny-Boo. To what do I owe the surprise?" Audrey said as she opened the door expecting Chad and not Ben but having Ben here was quite a lovely surprise on it's own.

"Nothing in particular I guess. Where's Chad?" Ben asked, stalling while making conversation except he didn't quite know what he was stalling for.

"I asked him to move my car for me because apparently I parked in one of the floaters spots." Audrey answered easily. It was utterly mundane moments like this that made Ben wonder what happened to their relationship, romantic and otherwise, over the years. It was that same curiosity that pushed him forward.

"May I come in?" Ben asked. "But of course." Audrey said opening her door and stepping to the side so that Ben could come in. Her hotel was quite similar to his with all the gold, brown and white that colored and accented the walls and furniture.

"Please, have a seat." Audrey gestured to the couch a couple feet away and Ben sat down as Audrey made her way to the small kitchen. "Would you like something to drink? Water? Tea?"

"We've all been here for less than an hour and you already have beverages?" Audrey stopped in her tracks turning to face Ben. "No I don't. Old habits die hard I guess." She laughed, referring to all the years they both spent learning how to be 'proper' royals and diplomats.

"How are you?" Ben suddenly asked, motioning her to sit in the armchair beside him. She did. "Better now that you're here." She said with a little giggled. Internally, the boy rolled his eyes just barely suppressing the urge to do it externally too. He knew she was faking it with all the cutesy flirty stuff, but why?

"You've been quite...busy these past few days." Ben worded carefully and Audrey still kept that polite yet flirtatious smile on her face. He recognizes it well. She uses it whenever she needs somebody to do something for her (like Chad and formerly, Ben) or to charm one of the visitors from other countries and kingdoms.

He thinks that she knows that he knows because while the smile is still on her face, she admits little bits and pieces of the truth. "I understand that the last few days have been...messy to say the least but I'm willing to put it all behind me if you are."

"I would except that's not exactly my decision to make now is it?"

"Oh come on Benny-Boo, you know it was just a harmless fight between friend groups." Ben accidentally let out a small snort but he couldn't help it. Her attitude towards the situation was completely galling. Not to mention that a part of him didn't know if Audrey was in denial or delusion but another part of him knew that she was just hiding something. He wasn't sure which side he wanted to be right.

"I would hardly call an angry mob 'harmless'." Ben said, ever the diplomat. Unfortunately, whatever training he got, Audrey got it too most likely. "I admit, things got stressful for a minute but it's over and hardly anything has change."

"Hardly anything?" Ben repeated, throwing a small smirk in her direction. Damn, he really wished he knew how to control his glowing eyes because this would've been the perfect moment to use them. Luckily, Audrey was able to catch on even without his newfound transformations but still, it would've been cool to use.

"I didn't say _nothing_ changed now did I?" Audrey smartly argued and Ben made a 'hmm' noise as he leaned back onto the couch. "You got me there but the lunchtime madness isn't what I wanted to talk about. At least, not entirely."

"Then what do you want?"

"What happened to you?" Ben asked bluntly. Originally he had planned to be tactful about it but lately his body has been doing things without his brain's permission. Especially his mouth. Goodness, that sounds wrong out of context.

"What do you mean me?" Audrey asked. Ben could see that she was more then slightly offended by the light dusting of pink on her cheeks that wasn't her blush. He should dial it down a bit. "I mean, you're just so much more different from when we were kids."

"Well we're not eight year olds playing around anymore now are we?" She snapped. 

"No, we're older. Which means that every decision we make is picked apart to bits and pieces especially since we're us so why have you been acting the way you have lately?"

"Acting. Like. What?"

"Like a villain." He blurted out before he could stop himself. So much for being civil. 

"Take that back."

"No." She abruptly stood up and pointed to the door, "Take it back or get out!" The boy king followed her lead in standing up. "No. I'm not telling you this because I wanna hurt you Audrey, I'm telling you this because someone needed to! And you were my friend. Hell, you still  _are_ my friend even after everything."

Audrey made noise that sounded like a crossover between a snort and scoff, "Oh please, we haven't been friends in ages."

Ben stepped closer to her, "Why? Because I started dating you or because I started dating Mal?"

"Is there an all of the above option?" Ah. Now they might be getting somewhere. "What does my dating life have anything to do with our friendship?" Ben asked. Audrey's eyes bugged out at his naivety or blatant cruelty, she truly hoped it was the former. "ONLY EVERYTHING! Ben, I've been practically engaged to you since birth and yeah, we started off as friends but when we started dating I was on top of the world, not because I was dating and maybe even marrying the future king but because I got to be with my best friend for life. And then Mal comes along, a girl you knew for two seconds before you  _publicly_ practically dumped me. Was I supposed to take all of that with a smile?"

"I was under a love spell! I didn't know what I was doing!"

"And yet months later, you're still with the girl who brainwashed you and I got left with zip, and why? Because I don't have some tragic backstory? Well I'm sorry! I'm sorry that I grew up with a silver spoon in my mouth instead of stealing cheap silver, I'm sorry I grew up a princess not a ruffian, I'm sorry I grew on in Auradon not the Isle of the Lost, I'M SORRY THAT I'M NOT MAL!" Audrey panted out, face flushed in anger and embarrassment. Ben could only stand and stare. 

"You can go now." Ben shook his head much to Audrey's displeasure. She started to stalk towards him at a fast pace. "Benjamin! If you don't leave right now-" 

He interrupted her, grabbing her in his arms. "I never wanted you to be Mal."

"Why? Hair not purple enough?" She spat, but considering she hadn't ripped herself away from him yet, Ben figured he was in the green light. "You guys are two completely different people. I would never want you to be her or vice versa. The reason why I went to Mal so quickly wasn't just because of a potion but because I didn't know who I was dating anymore. It didn't even feel like dating at that point."

She pulled away to look him in the eyes. "What do you mean?"

"You ever notice that I never fought us being together in the beginning. That's because I got to be with one of my best friend's too but overtime you changed. We became less about being close and more about public approval. Dress rehearsals instead of actual dates, we traded mutual passion for our titles and that's on both of us."

"So you're saying that I messed up our relationship?" She asked, accusal laced in her voice. "God no! We were a mess for a whole plateau of reasons. It was only a matter of time until we imploded and I guess Mal was just-"

"-the tipping point. I guess I get it. Part of the reason why I'm so mad, so vengeful, is because not only am I completely lost on what to do now but, no one ever bothered to apologize to me."

Ben thought back all to when he first met Mal. It felt like a lifetime ago but as he went through his memories he didn't have any recollection of anyone, especially himself, apologizing to Audrey. Granted, she wasn't a ray of sunshine at the time (or now) but she did technically get her boyfriend and possible future crown stolen away from her and publicly embarrassed. And no one did a damn thing about it.

Shit.

Some king he is.

Some  _friend_ he is.

"Audrey I am so-" He began only for the princess to cut him off. "Don't bother, time's passed, it doesn't matter anymore."

"Except it does matter. I'm sorry that happened to you and I'm extra sorry that it took me this long to apologize but that doesn't excuse a lot of your actions."

She sighed, slightly slumping and lowering her eyes. "I know, I know. I think I was jealous and bitter and nostalgic."

"You think?" Ben teased, trying to bring some lightness into the conversation. Audrey played along telling him to shut up. "You do know that just because Mal is in my life doesn't mean you can't be right? In fact, I have a crazy idea, why don't we all just try to be friends?" If there was more than a little bit of sarcasm in Ben's voice, could you really blame him?

"You're right. That  _is_ a crazy idea."

"But not impossible?" Ben asked with hope. Audrey playfully rolled her eyes, "I'm not going to pretend to be besties but...I won't be starting any trouble and neither will Chad."

"That's all I'm asking for."

Audrey sighed, looking around the room for a moment before her eyes landed on the boy in front of her. "Heavy talk."

"Yeah, but worth it." He agreed before pulling her in for a proper hug. He didn't know if they would be as close as they were when they were kids but maybe, just maybe, they could be better. Or at least on the path to being better.

He let her go after a few moments passed and headed for the door with her behind him. "Am I going to see you at dinner?" 

"Yeah, I'll probably leave as soon as Chad gets back so we can go together." Speak of the devil and he shall appear. No later than a second Audrey said his name, Chad walked through the doorway covered in what smelled like car oil and what looked like confetti.

"Float people don't mess around." He offered as his only explanation before coughing out stray pieces of confetti. "What are you doing here Ben?"

"Leaving. I'll see you at dinner unless you plan on eating your confetti."

"I'll get him cleaned up." Audrey announced, "I'll see you soon." So she led Ben out and he left her room feeling lighter then before. Maybe the old beast was onto something.

_Thanks Dad._

* * *

Ben found himself walking through the halls but once again, something felt off. Like he had to do something. He checked the watch on his left hand. Ten minutes left till dinner. Just enough time to do something.

But do what?

Ben closed his eyes and took a deep breath before letting his legs carry him to wherever he needed to go because apparently they knew more than he did today. As he made his way down the hall he figured out exactly where he was going and who he was going to see.

Was this a bad idea? Probably.

Was he still going to do it? Absolutely.

And that thought process is how he found himself standing in front of a certain door with his knuckles just centimeters away from knocking on the door. 

He's never been intimidate by a blank white door with gold numbers on it but there's a first for everything.

Maybe he shouldn't do this. Who knows if this person even wants to talk to him. While they didn't leave off on bad terms, it wasn't entirely positive either. Maybe he should just leave them to their own devices and have them come to him.  But what if they never did? Doesn't matter, Ben wasn't entirely sure that he was in the right to be making first move so he lowered his hand and began to walk away from the door. He made it approximately two feet before his father's words rang in his head.

_"Sometimes son, you have to give people an opening to be vulnerable with you."_

_Gee, thanks Dad._

Summoning whatever strong will and impulse he had left inside him, Ben went straight for the door and didn't stop until he finally made himself knock on the blasted wood and wait for someone to answer.

It felt like an eternity had gone by before someone did.

But the important part was that someone  _did._

And it was just the person he wanted (possibly even needed) to see.

"Hi." Ben sputtered out weakly.

The person leaned against the doorframe in confusion, curiosity and slight intrigue.

"Hey." said Harry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I missed writing about Harry this chapter but goddamn am I glad to FINALLY POST THIS.
> 
> You know that the chapter title was inspired by The Vamps and Disturbance At The Dancing Place? Same with chapter 15: Never Be The Same. You can thank Camila Cabello for that one. Just another tidbit that I'd wanted to share. Also, I never thought I'd be popular enough for this (even though I'm not) but I feel ballsy enough to do this...
> 
> SNEAK PEEK:
> 
> "Gil, get out of my way." Harry warned. If he wanted to leave he was going to leave and the blonde boy, nor anyone else, was going to stop him. He kept walking forward ready to go through Gil but the other boy, stayed in front of him and persisted.
> 
> "Hey man, you're one of my best friends. You think I wanna stop you? I don't but between you and Uma, she scares me more. Plus, you have to admit that she sorta, kinda has a point don't ya think?" Gil pleaded with his arms up as a sign of not being a threat.
> 
> "Harry...you have to stay."


	18. Lost In The Summerlands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Let's get lost tonight
> 
> Let's get lost tonight
> 
> Baby you and, I can't seem to get you off my mind..."
> 
> -Lost In Japan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn, look at me, back at it again with the using song titles and chapter titles. Oh whelp. C'MON, SING WITH ME...
> 
> Cause I-I-I can't get you off my mind  
> Can't get you off my mind  
> I can't seem to get you off my mind....
> 
> See you in the notes beloooowwwww....and ENJOY!

The two of them just stood there for a second, looking not into each other's eyes but not away from each person either. 

It was weird...but nice.

Strange but oddly comforting.

Ben's head hurt. He had no idea how Harry did this to him, if he even knew the dizzying effects that he had on him. Acting like a paradoxical pirate. Maybe he was doing it on purpose, just to mess with Ben. He foolishly hoped it was that because it would be cosmically unfair if all of it just came to Harry naturally.

"Hi." Ben lamely repeated.

"Did you miss my 'hey' or are we doing this again?" Harry asked, still leaning against the doorway. Not hostile but not friendly either. Could Ben work with that? He hoped he could.

"How are you?" Wow, he was just filled with the lame and gawky conversation starters today wasn't he? Harry stared at the floundering boy for a second with mirth in his eyes before responding. "I've been worse. What're you doing here Ben?"

"You mean other than making awkward conversation?" Ben stalled only for Harry to rip his stalling in half. "Yeah, other than that."

"Well..." Ben began, "I'll be honest, I don't really have a plan and I'm just making this up as I go."

"You don't say."

"How am I doing?" Ben stupidly asked. 

"I've seen worse." Was Ben mistaken or could he detected just a little bit of amusement from the semi-former pirate? If all it took to break the tension was Ben embarrassing himself then he had this in the bag.

"Are you going to go to dinner?" Ben continued. Harry shifted in the doorway leaning on his back now and looked at Ben with his head turned. There was something about the way that he was standing, the way that he was looking at Ben that made Ben feel like he had all (if not most) of his attention. The unrelenting study made Ben feel rather warm under the collar but he supposed that it was better to be pink under the collar than on his cheeks...or anywhere else that could be easily seen.

"Think me and the crew are just gonna stay in for the night." Harry finally answered. How long had Ben been watching Harry watch him?

"On the first night?" Ben questioned. He had to stay focused on the actual conversation and not be distracted by anything else. Like how light and blue Harry's eyes were despite the very dark personality he hid behind there. They even swirled with some green and maybe some gray. Honestly if he had a closer look-

"Beastie?" Harry cut in. He was standing up straight now and the complacent look on his face gave away that he must've been trying to get Ben's attention for a bit now.

_What is this power you have over me?_

"Sorry about that. Mind...drifted." Ben quickly explained. Technically, it wasn't a lie. There wasn't even a need for the 'technically'. As long as Harry didn't ask what he was think about because he dreaded having to find a way out of that or, more embarrassingly, telling him the truth.

_Enough of this. I'm a king. I can handle a smug pirate._

"Am I not interesting enough for you?" Harry asked with a small, faux pout.

"Hardly. I was just trying to think of a way to convince you to leave your room." Ben said. Well if he wasn't before he is now.

"Any ideas?" Harry asked, taking a step forward towards Ben with a look of complete innocence on his face while Ben knew that whatever was going on in the other boy's head was  _far_ from innocent. Even so, Ben took a step back.

"A couple."

"Like what?" Another step. Add one more for Ben.

_I'm a king, I'm a king, I'm a king..._

"Like promising you food and drinks and celebrating..." Ben continued as if he wasn't painstakingly watching every move Harry made. But, (although he didn't know if this was good or bad) Ben hadn't like the fact that he'd stepped back twice and made a vow to not move backwards anymore. To stay in his original spot.

_I can handle this._

"I don't know if the other two are up for a lot a celebrating. Uma is...Uma and Gil is content watching the "funny animals" on T.V." Harry said with quotation marks. Another step. "Are you?"

"Am I what?" Ben pushed ahead still in the same spot. For better or for worse though it was definitely feeling like worse right now...

"Willing to celebrate?" Mini step. "With me?" Mini step. "Unless you're too busy with your friends."

"Of course I'd make time for you." Ben unknowingly admitted. It's like his brain to mouth filter just went haywire around Harry. He couldn't handle this could he?

Final step. "Great. When?"

"Today...or tomorrow night...or day." Ben said, hesitantly looking up at the other boy who was very, very close to him. Less than a inch of space between them in fact. Breathing the same air, practically feeling the heat off the other person's body.

_Stay strong. Don't back down._

Easier said than done. Especially when Harry tilted his head just enough so that his lips were hovering over Ben and lingered for a second before turning to Ben's left ear. "Sounds like a plan." Harry finished before taking his place back at the doorway. Ben stood there with a blank look on his face trying to regain his bearings while Harry stayed and waited. Smug and smirking.

Sneaky, conniving little bastard.

"So 6 tonight?" Ben finally spoke out. Harry nodded. "That works. See you then Beastie." Ben waited till Harry closed the door on him before checking his watch for the time.

_Shoot. I'm gonna be late. Also, what just happened?_

* * *

When the elevator doors that Ben took downstairs opened, Evie was the first thing he saw. The blue haired girl had her back leaning against the opposite wall with her left foot propped up. The ding from the elevator got her attention seeing as her shot up from her phone. "Ben! There you are! C'mon we're late! One more minute and Jay would've abandoned us for the hula dancers." She said as she took his hand and led him down the hallway.

"There are hula dancers?" Ben asked. Evie shrugged, "According to Jay there are." 

As they walked, Evie pondered talking to Ben about something before finally making up her mind and making stopping in the hallway. "Everything okay?" Ben questioned the sudden stop in walking.

"Yeah, I just wanted to make sure if everything was okay with you...and Mal...and that you're mistake, accident, whatever you want to call it, was just that." Evie explained. Ben smiled as her gave Evie a short squeeze on the shoulder. "Everything's fine. I promise."

"Good. I'd hate to find out just how well my mother's poison apples worked." Even with the joke Ben could here the threat laced in her words. "So would I. I feel like the poison might kill the flavor of the apple." Ben teased hoping to diffuse the tension. It might've worked seeing how Evie smiled and let out a little laugh. "Hey, I'm a chemist not a cook."

"Noted."

They resumed walking but that didn't mean they stopped talking. "Where's Doug?" Ben asked. He distinctly remembered the other boy was invited but he hasn't seen him since everybody left.

"Oh, there was some type of coal mining explosion and Doug wanted to go back home to help. On the bright side everything and everyone's fine, on the bad side I have to wait until tomorrow for him to get here."

"Is that who you were on the phone with?" He gestured to her phone.

"Guilty as charged." She said with a little waggle of her phone. She paused for a moment before speaking again. "So you and Harry Hook huh?" Evie bit her lip while trying to stiffen a laugh while side eyeing him. Ben gave her a nervous and slightly embarrassed laugh.

_Was this what he was going to hear the entire time he was here? Concern, subtle threats and jokes about Harry?_

He supposed that there were worse options compared to those.

"Don't knock it till you try it." Ben randomly replied. 

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about." She said before slinging her right arm around Ben to bring him closer to her, "Despite him being cuckoo for clocks and crocodiles, I get the allure of Harry. Believe me, I do." She said before releasing him.

"You know you're the second one to do that to me today." The boy commented.

"Do what?"

"Imply some type of intimate past with Harry."

"Who was the first?" Evie wondered.

"Jay."

"I'm not surprised. Speaking of Jay, we should probably walk a little faster." Evie picked up speed and Ben followed. "So you're not gonna tell me about what you guys meant?"

Evie smile was filled with teasing and mystery and more importantly, secrets. "Nope. You're the only one who kisses and tells around here."

* * *

There was no way to describe dinner other than; you  _had_ to be there.

Where would Ben even start?

Maybe when Jay got so drunk on the grape wine that when he tried to dance with one of the hula girls, Carlos (with the help of Lonnie) led him to a cactus. Which led to Evie scolding the three of them as she plucked needles out of Jay with tweezers. 

Or when Mal miraculously got Jane to compete in a magic war with her and the two of them accidentally turned two tables full of food blue and purple. Luckily for them the food was still edible and delicious though.

Or when poor Carlos and Jane had to chase Dude around for most of the night to keep him from freaking out the other guests by talking to them as he stole their food. ( _"HI EVERYBODY! LOVELY NIGHT! IS THAT MEAT?!?"_

_"DUDE GET BACK HERE!!!")_

Or when Evie got so excited about news from Doug that she sprung up from her seat to heat a nearby waiter carrying a pitcher of drinks. Only to get hit by the blueberry girl and accidentally spill the contents on top of her.

It took a two spells and a towel to keep Evie from losing it.

Or when Lonnie got into a salami and baguette sword fight with one of the performers on stage...and won much to the performer's disappointment. 

Or eating so much food, that Jane upchucked some of the contents of her stomach onto the color streaked (and now vomit streaked) grass below.

And Ben? He spent most of his time internally embarrassing himself looking for a certain red leather clad individual who ultimately decided that he didn't have to be there much to one beast king's displeasure.

But other than that, it was a blast. A drunken and food filled blast.

And that was just Day 1.

* * *

Nothing prepared Ben for Day 2.

Because on Day 2 he somehow had to tell all his friends that he was ditching them for Harry. A conversation he wasn't sure would go well if the recent events (Jay punching him) had anything to say about it.

So for a good solid minute he sat in bed, legs covered in a blanket, silently freaking out. It was the only peace he'd get all day because as soon as his minute was over, four different sets of knocks were rapped against his door.

"Come in!" Ben called out, already knowing who it was and lo and behold, through the front door came the leather clad bunch of misfits that he called his friends...minus a few.

"Where is-" 

"Jay's got a hell's hangover." Evie started, going through one of Ben's suitcase to pick an outfit for him to wear and picked up one of his boxers (not the crown one, hallelujah) only to toss it aside without a second thought. Every now and then Ben wonders if he's a little  _too_ close with his friends but he much rather that than to be distant strangers with them. Plus he knows that picking out everybody's outfits is just a habit for Evie.

Everybody has their odd quirks he supposes.

Mal plopped down in a nearby cushy chair, "Lonnie's with him to make sure he doesn't drown in his own puke."

"Aaand Jane went to get more towels to help clean up the puked up mess that Jay already made first thing this morning." Carlos says with a granola bar in his mouth while searching through Ben's mini-fridge and comes out with a water bottle.

"And you're here." The three went simultaneously. Ben still hasn't figured out how they do that so efficiently. Magic or best friend brain meld? Could be anything at this point.

"So what's the itinerary for today?" Ben asked, climbing out of bed to kiss Mal on the cheek before heading to the bathroom to brush his teeth.

"Museum."

"Art."

"Shopping."

Ah, exactly what he expected. "Is there a way to make everybody happy today?" He asked around the toothbrush.

"We could go to an art museum?" Carlos suggested.

"And then go shopping with Evie..." Mal finished.

"Ben, what do you wanna do?" Evie called out towards the bathroom. She smiled down at the clothes she laid down on Ben's bed. No matter what they did today he would be fashion ready.

"Um..." Ben muttered sheepishly, "about that..."

"You're ditching us aren't you." Carlos deadpanned.

"I wouldn't use the word ditching..."

"We would." The three went again. Seriously, how do they do that?

"It's only for a couple of hours." Ben tried to explain. Evie walked towards him with her hands on her hips. "And pray tell, who is this special person who gets your time instead of us on  _our_ vacation."

To tell the truth or to lie. Ben internally snorted at himself. Like he could try lying to them again seeing how well he did the first - and hopefully last - time.

"Mal knows." Ben says.

"I do?"

"She does?"

"Yes, she does." Ben says before rolling his lips in and shooting Mal a desperate, slightly unhinged look. He really hoped that the couple brain meld myth was true because if there was ever a time for it to work; it was now.

Realization jump-started in Mal's eyes, "I DO!"

Thank Goodness.

"Are you sure he's up for it?" Mal questioned getting up

"Who's he?" Went Carlos

"And why would he not be up for it?" Went Evie. The two of them were so confuse but Ben would have to deal with that later. "Yeah, he's totally up for it. There's no reason why he wouldn't show up."

* * *

"Harry you can't go." Gil pleaded for what felt like the hundredth time. Harry had gotten through putting on clean (he was still trying to get used to  _always_ having clean clothes) underwear before Gil barged in with a million and two reasons as to why he couldn't go out with Ben today.

Platonically. He means platonically...mostly.

Good to know that Gil had been eavesdropping last night not to Harry's surprise. Despite Gil being...Gil, he was one of Uma's top spies. The only ones before him were himself and Uma. Right now he was on reason one million and three...

"Because if Uma finds out that I let you go, she'll kill me and then kill you for doing shit that led to her killing me."

"So don't let her kill you." Harry said as he slipped on a boot and walked away from the floundering boy, "Problem solved."

"Problem not solved and you know it but I can never seem to make you or Uma listen to me." Gil cried out. Harry snorted in agreement.  _Ain't that the truth. No one can make Uma do anything._

He hadn't realized that he said that out loud.

"Bullshit, you can." Gil called out the other pirate boy which finally got Harry's attention as he turned around to look at Gil. "What're you talking about?"

"Uma was right, playing dumb doesn't fit you. Don't think I haven't noticed the...the rising tension around you guys." Granted, Harry wasn't really trying to hide his interactions with Uma but if Gil of all people noticed  _and_ called him out on it, things must've been more serious than he thought.

Which means Harry knows even less than he thought and he refuses to be the odd one out. If  _Gil,_ knows more things than he does, then there's a problem.

"Where is Uma anyway?" Harry questioned, turning the tables on Gil. In hindsight, Harry knew that Gil was just trying to protect both the king and queen in his eyes but it was a little hard to do when the king and queen are playing the same game on different sides.

Good thing Harry never prided himself on playing fair. 

He advanced on Gil, taking mini steps and locking eyes on him. Quickly, Gil grew more and more nervous not wanting to be on the bad side of one of Harry's 'moods'. "I-I-I don't know."

"You're lying."

"I really don't know."

"What  _do_ you know?"

"That she's up to something big." Gil spilled, more out of worry for his friends instead of fear for himself. "It's bigger than anything I've ever seen or anything she's ever done. She's keeping everything to herself."

For a long pause Harry didn't say anything and Gil was too afraid to. It was simply silent.

Until it wasn't.

"...GODDAMMIT!" Harry boomed before tossing a nearby chair to a wall and pacing around the room, ignoring the other boy. Why did it feel like no matter what move anyone made, it was still all a part of Uma's grand scheme? There were players that didn't even know they were involved, twists and turns that he hasn't and will not see coming all for an end goal that Harry wasn't sure of.

He hated it.

This uncertainty, this stress, this... _fear..._ he hated it. 

There's something more that Uma wants than invading Auradon. The problem was that Harry already knew that. Uma wasn't playing the game...she was  _making_ it. Rigged in her favor so that only she knew how to win. So that only she could win.

That doesn't mean has to help her along the way. Not today at least.

In a split second Harry stomped toward the door not even looking as he grabbed his signature candy red jacket. He could hear Gil calling out for him and the smallest part of him felt bad but the rest of him just needed to get out.

To somewhere less toxic.

To somewhere he could breathe.

To Ben.

Except he wasn't expecting Gil to zoom right pass him and stop in front of him with both his arms stretched out like he was ready to push Harry back into the room if he had to. For the first time this morning, Harry faltered because while everyone knew that whatever Gil lacked in brains he  _severely_  made up for in brawn.

Gaston wouldn't settle for anything less.

Then again, Harry wouldn't settle for anything less than getting out of this room either.

"Gil, get out of my way." Harry warned. If he wanted to leave he was going to leave and the blonde boy, nor anyone else, was going to stop him. He kept walking forward ready to go through Gil but the other boy, stayed in front of him and persisted.

"Hey man, you're one of my best friends. You think I wanna stop you? I don't but between you and Uma, she scares me more. Plus, you have to admit that she sorta, kinda has a point don't ya think?" Gil pleaded with his arms up as a sign of not being a threat.

"Harry...you have to stay."

 As much as Harry hated to admit it, Gil was right. Until he had more inside knowledge on what Uma was up to, until he a very valuable playing hand, he should stay.

For the sake of the plan that he already committed himself to and the endless hole of oblivion, he should stay.

For the sake of Uma and The Sea Three, he should stay.

For the sake of his  _sanity_ he should stay.

_He should stay..._

Harry gave Gil an odd look. Something that looked like a combination of weariness, regret, anger and a flash of guilt. Gone as soon as it appeared. As Gil lowered his hands and stepped out of the other pirates way for resistance now would be futile. He had already given it his best shot and it wasn't enough. Not this time.

_...But he won't._

"What do I tell Uma?" Gil asked and Harry was at odds with himself for being the one to put such a forlorn feeling on guilt. Harry is by no means an unselfish person, but for someone as innocent as Gil who lived on the Isle with him he usually did try to keep the weight of oblivion on his shoulders only.

And hell, has he felt the pressure lately.

Harry wonders if the old him  ~~~~ ~~~~\- the one that ~~lived~~   _survived_ on the Isle - would be disgusted by that thought. If anyone thought he was loyal now, they should've seen him back on that blasted hunk of mold and rock. A true second mate. One who never dared to betray Uma. One that was, not happy but...more accepting and more than a bit ignorant in being one of Uma's pawns. He can still remember her 'welcome to the crew' threat to this day.

_"If anyone of you dares to betray me, I'll make walking the plank look heavenly compared to what I'll do."_

It actually made him laugh. A dry, hoarse, ugly, tired laugh.

"Ask her if the plank is still an option for me."

* * *

Ben waited in the lobby near a small, indoor palm tree. There were so many plants that didn't belong in this neck of the woods and it made him curious as to how they survived.

That could be said about a lot of things if he was being honest.

But maybe he was using the tree to distract himself from waiting. He'd been here for fifteen minutes and there was no sign of Harry. It's not like Ben thought he was too important to wait or anything stupid like that but that he was worried that Harry wasn't okay.

Maybe he was going crazy but it felt like Harry's mood and personality had dipped into something darker, more desperate and despair like.

But then again, Ben's only so far away from growing a tail so who's he to judge on what's normal right now. So he continued to sit and wait in the lobby no matter how increasingly awkward he felt by the second. The only thing that made it worse was having to wave at the few people passing by to show that no, he wasn't just some creeper just standing in the room for no apparent reason.

Or at least he wouldn't be when Harry showed up. He really hoped that he was coming today seeing as he had ditched Ben yesterday and didn't exactly make a time frame for today...

 _"What exactly am I supposed to do if Harry doesn't come?_ _"_ Ben pondered.

The elevator doors sounded like the gates of heaven opening as Harry  _finally_ arrived. Ben gestured to the elevator, "Did you get stuck?"

"Why? Did you miss me?"

"...Terribly." 

"Aw, Beastie, I knew you cared." A brief pause was all that needed for the last interaction they had to stir in both of their memories. Luckily, or unluckily, the two of them were determined to make this day out work for more than one reason.

"You have any place in mind or do you have another relative that needs you to go shopping for yet another relative?" Harry cheekily (as much as he could) asked around the silence.

"No, not today. I was actually hoping that you had some places in mind that you wanted to check out." Ben answered. Harry nodded and thought for a second about what they could do to move on from this slightly (yeah, _that's_ the word he'll use) uncomfortable moment. Instinctively, he took a step toward Ben. A pretty significant step that left about a foot of space between them. Enough to make Ben's head to minutely tilt up. "How about we wander the streets and you tell about what I missed last night and what you ended up getting your mother."

Ben tore his eyes away from Harry's face the minute he realized he was staring, "Um...y-yep. Sounds like a plan."

* * *

The four VK's (plus Lonnie and Jane) stumbled out of a nearby milkshake shop in laughter.

"You two are idiots." Mal said around her straw. Evie agreed, "You put this on yourselves."  _This_ being the fact that since Jay and Carlos just couldn't agree on where to go first had decided that whoever could scarf down the most frozen cherries would be the winner of the day even if their stomachs lost.

And boy, did their stomachs lose.

A whine bubbled out of Carlos's throat, "I can't feel anything past my mouth or above my waist." He sounded slightly drunk as he clung to Jane in his weakened state. Poor Jane who had to balance both her boyfriend and her pumpkin milkshake because yes, they existed here.

And they were surprisingly good.

Jay burped and groaned as he gripped his stomach and leaned on Lonnie for support, "Dude, I  _wish_ I couldn't feel anything."

"Maybe you guys should rest at the hotel." Lonnie suggested. Despite their sickened state both boys had enough strength to whip around and shoot her a look of surprise and low-level glaring.

"Just for a couple of hours." She explained raising her hands up in fake defense and almost dropping Jay in the process. Jay looked outraged, "NE-", out came a very loud belch, "VER! Right Carlos?"

"Where's my room key?" Carlos muttered to himself as he tried searching his many pockets for it. "QUITTER! Ben would never allow this if he were here!" Jay chastised. Beforehand, Mal had told all of them that Ben had some prior engagements today that he approved with her during their time alone in the limo. While it didn't stop the questions in their head it was enough to keep their mouths closed for at least a couple of hours.

Because who wanted to stress about unnecessary drama anyways? Going to Auradon Prep was  _more_ than enough.

"It's just for a couple of hours for your stomachs to settle. You'll be back outside with us in no time." Evie added.  Jay scoffed, "I'm fine." Those were his infamous last words before he pushed himself off Lonnie and face-planted into the ground.

How graceful.

"TWO HOURS MAX!" Jay said into the ground as his friends around him laughed.

* * *

"And all of that happened within a one hour dinner?" Harry questioned after hearing about last night's dinner disaster. There was always something with that bunch wasn't there? But then again, he wasn't all that much better in comparison. But enough of that...

"What can I say...the wine does stuff to you." Ben says. 

"I might have to try some of it myself." The two of them had spent their time walking through the streets of the festival, more than a little amazed as how a group of people can make a small civilization in a town in front surrounded by woods. Both of them were enjoying the scenery and each other's company a little more than they'd like to admit.

"Want to?"

"Want to what? Try the wine?" At Ben's eager nod, Harry laughed and Ben's smile grew just a little larger. "Have any place in mind?" Harry asked. Ben pondered for a moment before a lightbulb went off in his head. "I think I might know a place." That's the only warning Harry got before Ben instantly grabbed his hand to drag him off to places unknown. 

Ben lead them to a couple streets away where most of the festivities were taking place. All along the long street various vendors played music, sold food, clothes and exactly what they needed right now:

Wine.

"Do you have a flavor in mind or do you want me to surprise you?" Ben asked, unaware of why his right hand was warmer than his left until he looked down and pulled his hand away. Hopefully he didn't scare off Harry by doing that. He didn't even realize that he did it until the damage was done. It all just felt so...natural. Little did he know, the other boy shared similar thoughts. At least in some sense.

"If I say surprise me do you you promise you won't slip me some type of rat poison or something?" Harry teased. Ben pouted and played along, "Oh no, you've discovered my evil plan! Whatever shall I do now?"

"Evil?" Harry laughed before slipping an arm around Ben's shoulders and bringing him closer, "You've got so much to learn." Noticing the lack of space, Ben's breath hitched for a second before he pulled away. "I thought we were here for wine not tutoring for a future in evil."

"I see no reason why we can't do both."

"I do." Ben said and started walking up to a vendor to ask for two cups and giving one to Harry, "Because you'll be too busy drinking this. Bottoms up!" After they both drank, Harry was pleasantly surprised about his drink. It actually made him snicker. 

"What's so funny?" Ben asked looking so sincere in his lost puppy dog eyes and Harry only snickered more. "You say that this is what you and your friends drank last night?"

"It's what I drank. I think my friends had something a bit stronger." 

Harry kept snickering, "I'll say. Ben...this is fruit punch."

Ben's eyes bugged out, "What?!? No, it isn't!" The utterly surprised look on his face sent Harry into a fit of laughter. It had to be some type of universally cosmic joke to have him fall for someone like Ben.

_Fall for someone like Ben?_

The thought of that alone almost made him stop laughing but the look that was still on Ben's face brought it back up again. The one not laughing was in denial, there was no way that he was affected by  _fruit punch_ of all things. The thought of that alone was just too embarrassing. "There is no way that this is fruit punch."

"I will admit that there is probably something else in there other than fruit punch but I will also say that I know for a fact, without a doubt, that there is fruit punch in this." Harry replied still laughing. Ben dragged him by the arm to the exact same vendor that he had visited before.

"Hello, my friend and I really want to celebrate this truly joyous festival. May we please have two cups of your  _strongest_ drinks?" Ben requested to the tan bearded man and he couldn't imply that he wanted alcohol even if he tried. He wasn't quite sure if he made the legal limit and he didn't want to be that jerk that flashes his royal status for whatever he wanted at the moment. 

No, Chad was good enough at that by himself...Audrey too if he thinks about it.

Harry was tall and scary enough for people to just not ask any questions. Ben had a very strong desire to prove himself to the pirate boy who was  _still_ laughing at him. "Would you stop laughing?"

Harry sputtered out his reply, "I can't. You...are something else Beastie." The vendor came back with two small glass cups filled halfway with a purple liquid. Ben hadn't even picked it up yet and he could smell just how strong it was from where he was standing.

"Bottoms up." The vendor, said before returning to his newspaper. Was everything free here or was it already paid for? No matter, Ben raised a glass and handed one to Harry who took a whiff, "Now  _this_ is definitely not fruit punch."

"Shut up and drink." Both of them emptied their glass, feeling the burn and sting go down their throats. While Harry needed a minute to recollect himself (because damn, that was strong) Ben felt fine.

"Can we have another?" Ben asked he vendor man. Said man shrugged before refilling each of their drinks and Ben downed his before Harry could even pick up his cup and again, nothing.

"Another." Now it was Harry's turn to be surprised, "You want another? One wasn't enough for you."

"No." Ben said as modestly as he could, "It wasn't." He down another before asking for more. As Ben drank, Harry studied him and based off the drunken hot messes he'd seen daily on the Isle, Ben had no physical affects appear as he drank.

It was almost like he was immune. 

And then Harry smirked because...of course Ben was immune to alcohol.

At Ben's - sixth, seventh? - shot Harry cut him off before he could take another sip, "Alright, you're done. I think it's obvious that alcohol doesn't really affect you. That or you have one hell of a tolerance."

"No." Ben whined, "Just let me try one more."  Harry grabbed Ben's hand to take the drink away from him and Ben lost his grip on it accidentally spilling the drink over Harry's shirt.

Harry's ripped, white, shirt.

Shit.

"I am so, so sorry." Ben apologized as he tried to wipe the wine away with his hands only succeeding in smudging it more and making himself blush as he realized that he was practically  _rubbing_ the boy as Harry smirked down at him.

"Don't feel bad. I don't."

"Don't feel bad for what?"

"This." Harry took the second drink that he never drank and splashed it on Ben's light blue collared shirt. A splatter of purple spreading.

"Now we're even." He said with a mischievous grin. Ben ignored him and turned to ask the vendor man where the nearest store was.

* * *

"Remind me why we're shopping for clothes when we could just go back to our rooms and get new ones?"

"Because Mrs. Potts bought me that as a birthday gift and wine stains. If I toss it out or lose it somehow, it will break her frail as chinaware heart." Ben explained as they walked into a small boutique. Ben started scanning for the shirt while Harry complained next to him while helping him look. If it meant looking at Ben's soaked through chest area for a bit well, Harry would just have to take one for the team.

His own team that is.

The more they looked, the more they failed which brought the attention of a redhead woman who worked there. Her name was Bridget. "Hello, may I help you two?"

"No." Harry snapped. Ben rolled his eyes, "Ignore him. Do you guys happen to have a version of this shirt?" He motioned toward his own.

"We might have some decoys if you're willing to try them out."

"And do you think you would have something that might suit my friend?" Ben pointed to Harry who blatantly shook his head and Ben just told Bridget to ignore him again. Bridget rather liked those two's antics and smiled. "Definitely."

And somehow, despite all his protests, Harry found himself being forced by Ben and Bridget to try on various shirts. Though he will admit we was...less pissed to find out that the store sold many ripped clothes and in many different colors. This time he's springing for black because even if something spills on it he can deny it and avoid going shopping.

 _But isn't a little bit of shopping ...not...horrible with certain people around. Certain people who are very good kissers by the way..._ Harry's mind drifted back to the night on the cliff before being abruptly brought back by Bridget who actively trying to get and keep his attention.

He was quickly starting to hate Bridget.

"So we're actually rather full today and we only have one clothing room left. Luckily though, it's big enough for two people if you're both comfortable with that." Bridget casually mentioned before leaving them to decide whether or not they should strip in front of each other. But Harry knew he would be fine because there was no way that sweet, innocent, fruit punch tasting, little Ben was going to-

"Do you wanna face one wall while I face the other?" Ben asked, already going into the changing stall. Harry's mouth went agape for just a split second before anyone, especially Ben, saw it. Damn this boy for continuously destroying his expectations but Harry was never one to back down from a fight now was he?

"Right or left?" He asked, overweening as ever. Ben shrugged, "Your choice."

That's how he ended up here. In a changing stall facing the left wall shirtless while Beastie was behind him probably shirtless too.

Just the quickest glance behind him...  

"Do you think you can pass me one of the button ups please?" Ben asked. Automatically, Harry reacher for a shirt on the small bench next to them and handed it to him, their fingers brushing against each other in the exchange.

"T-Thanks."

Harry breathed a sigh of relief. He could practically hear the shyness in Ben's voice and that oddly comforted him. He slipped on a jaggedly ripped black shirt as Ben finished buttoning up his. They both reached to walk out the door but unfortunately, while the stall was big, it wasn't big enough. The two of them stumbled over the clothes and each other. Ben would've fallen if it wasn't for him hanging onto Harry as the pirate clumsily caught the boy king and pressed him against the wall in an effort to stabilize them both.

It took them both a minute to realize that there was practically no space between them with Harry's right hand wrapped around Ben, landing on the small of his back and Harry's left forearm leaning against the wall above Ben's head, legs intertwined. Ben with his left on Harry's shoulder and his right on Harry's waist exactly where there was a big rip meaning that his hand was laying on solid skin. And for someone who acted so cold, Harry was pretty warm.

Labored breathing filled the room even though both parties hadn't done anything strenuous. Physically at least. Emotionally, they were each a little bit of a mess. To Ben's very pleasant surprise he wasn't sporting a blush but if he didn't move soon he was worried something else might...pop up. And of course, his eyes just had to flicker down onto to Harry's lips as if he needed a reminder that Harry's lips were rather soft against his the last time his kissed him and it made him wonder if they'd be soft now.

It made him want to find out.

But by heavenly, or hellish, intervention Bridget chose that exact moment to knock on the locked door, startling them both but that didn't mean they moved away from each other.

"You guys have been in there for awhile. You two okay?"

"Y-Yeah." Ben spoke out first, a little meek because he was a bit preoccupied right now. This entire time, Harry didn't stop staring at him and Ben couldn't look away. It was intense and intimate and it made the butterflies in your stomach seem like nothing to whatever was going on in there right now. He couldn't stop.

More importantly, he didn't  _want_ to.

The thought chilled him to his bones.

"We'll be out in a minute." Harry said next, still in his position on top of Ben. The last time he'd been this close to him...Harry squeezed the hook in his left hand as a reminder. A bittersweet reminder.

After what felt like forever, they slowly pulled away from each other. Not acknowledging the moment but not ignoring it either.

"You hungry?" Ben randomly asked.

"Yeah, I could eat."

* * *

After paying for their replacement shirts Harry and Ben quickly left the boutique in search of food. Neither one of them said a word as they walked, too busy self-reflecting. Ben felt like he was feeling the side effects of a post heart attack. He was sweaty and dizzy and his gums were on utter fire because of his fangs shooting in an out. But the worse part was the uncontrollable queasy feeling that he felt in his stomach that made him giddy and nervous at the same time.

Some might even dare to call it butterflies.

Meanwhile, Harry wasn't doing so good either. Unlike Ben, Harry was rather used to the human body and was not easily flustered. In fact, one could almost say that today was the closest that he's been to blushing. It wasn't Ben's status, or Uma's plan or the VK's or anything else that made him nervous, it was the exhilarating rush that went through him whenever he was with or even around Ben lately.

Subconsciously, Harry squeezed his hook, hoping to draw some comfort from it. Everyone around him knew that he was a risk taker. Even if you didn't know him you still got the vibe that if you ever wanted someone to do dangerous, risky and preferably violent things, he was the guy to come to...if he let you anywhere near him. Camp out at a haunted sea cave booby trapped with hundreds of skeletons? Done. Swim out to the barrier and almost get yourself brutally killed trying to find a weak spot? Easy. Actual, genuine feelings?

That was a bit out of Harry's league.

He side glanced the boy next to him who was obviously trying to keep his mouth shut. If Harry didn't know any better, he'd say it'd looked painful but he forced himself to look away and focus on the street in front of him.

The sun had fallen and stars filled the sky. There were lit lanterns strung up everywhere. Even the fireflies couldn't help but come out tonight. Confetti still littered the ground and the people around him were still, laughing and dancing.

Were still happy.

The smallest part of Harry (that he didn't suppress) really wanted the Summerlands to stay like this. A place were someone could happily get lost. It kind of reminded him of what he thought a certain place would look like or at least feel like. A certain place like...

"Neverland." Harry said out loud. Ben turned to look at him, confused. A "hmm?" coming out of his slightly red mouth.

"You one time asked me where I wanted to go besides school." Harry reminisced over meeting Chip, going flowing shopping, getting soaked in the rain, their time at Dimitri's. He wonders how the old, as Ben would put it, pepperoni was doing now. It felt like it happened so long ago. "I told you Neverland but I never told you why. Not really."

Ben didn't say anything but if the look on his face was anything to go by, he was more than interested and Harry had his full attention. The pirate boy was a little glad that Beastie had decided to stay quiet, he wasn't sure he could get through this if he wasn't. Hell, he didn't know why he was trying to in the first place.

"All my life, I have heard stories about the dastardly Peter Pan and his rotten lot of "Lost Boys". I've never told this to anyone but Peter Pan was kind of my hero growing up. Still kind of is every now and then..." He trailed off, glancing at Ben for a cue to stop talking but alas, there was none. 

"My dad, isn't the comforting type. I have no idea who...or what my mother is or even if she's still alive. I had so many questions about everything going on around me and the stories of Peter Pan and Neverland were one of the few things around me that made sense. Now, my father never said a good thing about Peter Pan. No, he'd rather rip out his own eyeball with my hook and hand feed it to Tic-Toc Croc but even as he told us about his many infamous failed run-ins with the mythical creature I couldn't help but be in awe of how smart and crafty and cunning and blatantly _defiant_ the guy was. Sometimes I thought that he could even become a good pirate which I know sounds stupid-"

"-No, it doesn't." Ben finally spoke, "It actually kind of makes sense. I mean the Lost Boys are kind of like his crew right? And the skies are sort of like his sea."

For once, Harry gave him a small, genuine smile in stead of a large devious grin, "Yeah, not to mention that he gets to hang out with mermaids all day long."

"Bloodthirsty mermaids."

"Even better." They both laughed, feeling an large awkward pressure lift off their shoulders. Was this what it was like? To not stress about every little interaction? It was nice. Growing bold, Ben stopped the both of them from walking right in the middle of the road and took one step closer to Harry. Being in the middle of the road wasn't important. There were no cars coming and infinite people paraded the street blissed out in their own little world. Happy, if only for tonight.

"Look up." Ben gently instructed, looking up himself. Feeling playful, Harry obliged, his vision filled with millions of stars.

"Now, I can't make any promises but I fully believe that if you, yes you, look hard enough, you'll find the second star to the right and get to go to the place where children never have to grow up and maybe, just maybe, if you can't be captain of the seas, you can still sail your way through the stars." Ben finished. Harry felt himself choke up and his throat close up. The both of them looked down only to stop at the sight of each other and if someone didn't pull away first, Harry would have no choice but to kiss the other boy.

Except Ben beat him to it.

It lasted only a second, two max, before Ben pulled away. But in that brief time, the crowd around them faded, the music was drowned out, and the thing that was left was Harry, Ben and the stars.

Goddammit, this place was turning Harry into a whiny, sniveling sap.

"I-I shouldn't have done that. I am  _so_ sorry." Ben sputtered out apologizing, embarrassed. Harry wouldn't have it. "Don't be." He said before dropping his hook and cradling Ben's head in his hands to kiss him again. Ben couldn't help but wrap his hands around the other's waist and melt.

Harry's lips press urgently against Ben's, desperate and craving. A simple action like trying to breathe only led to a deeper kiss, pulling each other closer. 

They parted, but stayed pressed together with Harry's leather fingerless gloves brushing Ben's cheeks. In that moment, either of them could've said or done anything. The ball was in both of their courts so why in the hell did Harry choose to be the first one to speak and why did the name 'Mal' come out of his mouth?

Still cradling Ben's head with their foreheads pressed together, Harry opened his eyes to see that Ben's were glowing a vibrant, bright blue and they were enthralling. He wasn't sure if Ben was gonna say anything until his eyes faded out and he muttered 'Uma'.

It took him a second to figure out what he was going on about. 

"VK's." Harry added.

"The Sea Three."

Reluctantly, they broke away from each other and tried to recollect themselves. Fat chance of that happening. Ben was red in the face and looked heartbroken. Harry reached down to grab his hook and slip it back on again. "You know...you never actually told me what you ended up getting your mother for her birthday." Harry mentioned, trying to distract him. Ben saw right through it but was grateful.

"You're really invested in that aren't you?"

"Hell yeah I am, spent all day with you looking for a gift didn't I?"

"I-uh, gave the flowers to Chip who gave it to her but the thing I got her was a book."

Harry shot him a disbelieving look, "You gave your mother who arguably has the the largest book collection known to man, a book? I don't believe you. You can do better than that."

Ben huffed out a laugh, "I'd like to hope I did. With the help of Fairy Godmother, we made an enchanted book with my mother's own personally story. Every page is filled with an animated memory from my mom's life and ironically enough...has no words, only pictures."

"You...might be a genius."

"I can't take all the credit, you're the one who gave me the idea."

"I don't even remember what I said but I will happily take all the credit. Hope your mom liked my yellow rose by the way. Even though you technically gave it to me." He scrunched his face with a mischievous expression.

Ben snorted, "I got another and yeah, it was her favorite." He said dryly, "But she did want me to tell you to say 'thank you' on her behalf while she was gone."

"My pleasure." For yet another moment, neither one said anything. Looks like they were back to the old awkward routine except much more complicated now. Harry didn't even wanna  _think_ about the repercussions this would have very soon with Uma. 

"Didn't you say you were hungry?" Ben asked, decidedly ignoring everything that had happened previously. Harry was too happy to oblige and play along.

"I said I could eat and I still can." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have good news/bad news, depends on your perspective...I'm ending the story.
> 
> Yeah...sorry.
> 
> It's getting a little too long and there's just so much (too much) to write so...I think I'm gonna end it...
> 
> ...In like 5-6 chapters when the story is complete....whoever you are reading this, just know that I couldn't stop laughing when I wrote that.
> 
> But I do mean it! We are much closer to the end than you (whoever "you" are) think and while I don't have a definitive number...that's the best I can do for ye.
> 
> If I do things right (and let's pray that I do) every single chapter from now on should (hopefully) hurt like a bullet. But I'm also feeling really motivated lately so that might mean that I'll be uploading faster but no promises.
> 
> Just thought I should let some of you know.
> 
> I AM NOT TRYING TO ROMANTICIZE CHEATING IN ANY WAY AND YOU'LL SEE WHAT I MEAN BY THAT VERY, VERY SOON. But keep in mind that I know nothing...
> 
> I need to hire an editor...like goddamn...
> 
> Also I've decided to alternate the sneak peeks so the next one will be at the end of chapter 19. BAIIII!


	19. I Love You, I'm Sorry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Great revelations can lead to devastating consequences...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the beginning of the end...

For the rest of their time at the Summerlands, Harry and Ben made it their top priority to avoid each other. No texts, no calls and  _especially_ no contact.

For who knew what happen if they were together.

During the last couple of days aside from the angst filled pining the festival was quite enjoyable and lived up to its name. Doug had finally made it over much to Evie's delight. She had even gotten him to borrow a trumpet and play with one of the float bands. It always made Ben smile whenever he was around those two. It was nice to see  _someone_ with a healthy and functional relationship.

Any interactions with Audrey and Chad had been cordial...but awkward. More so for Audrey than Chad because while Chad was an arrogant, entitled jerk he also had a talent for being the annoying habit that one accidentally lets grow on them.

Or at least that's what Carlos and Jay say.

But Audrey was complicated at best and mind shattering at worse. On one hand Ben wants to reconnect and find the girl who was sweet and quiet and someone who you could imagine being Sleeping Beauty's (formerly future mother-in-law Aurora) daughter. But on the other hand Audrey had grown nasty way before the VK's had arrived. All those snide, snippy comments she made that Ben would let slide because really, what was he going to do? Execute her? Or more currently, eat her?

Before, Ben was too busy trying to find a proclamation he actually believed in and not just something that would please the public. When he finally did, he was way too busy trying to undo his father's actions (something that was still in the works) mostly by himself because if anyone remembered clearly, there wasn't too many people around that were pro-VK's or even pro-change. 

And now?

Don't even get him started on now.

Besides that, Ben spent almost every second with Mal and his friends. Unlike before the guilt wasn't killing him per say but that might've  been because he was contemplating something really, really stupid.

But he didn't want to think about that.

What he wanted to think about was going to look at art with Mal while stuffing their faces and getting scolded to not let food get on the displays. Or getting conned - that card game was cheated he tells you - into going on a 6 hour shopping trip with Evie and Doug. Or playing with Dude in the park with Carlos. Or cracking jokes with Jay and watching him get continuously rejected by girls but hit on by guys. Or fencing with Lonnie by the stream. Or even just going on a chariot ride with Jane.

He wanted to think about them all.

So he did.

Until the very last second of their vacation, he did.

He didn't realize just how precious those memories would be later on when he wishes that they all just stayed in the Summerlands.

* * *

Come Monday morning everybody was back to school, back to their usual routines.

And they hated it.

"You're telling me that I traded fine dining with fine girls for..." Jay left the bathroom where he was brushing his teeth to pick up his school schedule that was on his bed, " _Country Finance: The Core Basics of Money._ " He scoffed around his toothbrush, "It's like world is  _trying_ to to re-corrupt me...or punish me...or both." 

For a change of scenery, the usual gang was in Jay and Carlos's room for the day. To Ben's slight surprise, their room was rather clean. While he's been in their dorm before, it's never been this close to spotless like it was now. Then again, they have been gone for a few days.

"Learning to make money instead of stealing it. Poor you." Evie teased while going through his closet. She really did have a bit of a problem.

"Think of it as learning to steal people's money legally." Carlos offered but was probably tuned out by Jay's hair dryer. Ben just sat back on Carlos's bed, petting Dude and enjoying the scene before him. He's been feeling rather nostalgic lately for the simpler times.

The door opened and everybody's head turned to see Mal come in holding one particularly large plate of waffles, a plate that Carlos quickly relieved her of.

"With how late...or early we came in this morning mixed in with these two's," she pointed at Evie and gestured to the bathroom where Jay was, "morning rituals, I knew we'd miss breakfast." She pulled put a bottle of syrup from her back pack and tossed one at Carlos, who was already two waffles in, before sitting down next to Ben.  "Hi."

"Hi." He greeted before planting a quick kiss on her nose. "What, no strawberries?"

Mal glowered recalling the recent memory of going down to the cafeteria only to find no. Strawberries.

Ben laughed at his girlfriend's pout before wrapping and arm around her and Mal cuddling into him. He exhaled, as close to content as he could be.

He was fine. He could do this.

* * *

Harry was about twelve seconds away from finding a way from strangling Chad with that damn floss of his. He's been in a testy mood ever since that fateful night in the Summerlands and if there was anyone who was good at testing moods, it was Chad. And Harry was already upset about missing breakfast.

He was walking towards the door to leave and he could still hear Chad yammering about. "I'm just saying that there's a beauty to flossing and while I don't mean to brag but I have personally mastered it. I mean, have you seen my teeth?"

Harry rolled his eyes and turned the doorknob. Honestly, how could anyone be so damn lively at 7:45 in the morning? He opened the door only to have his vision consumed with turquoise.

It was Uma.

Uma, who he's barley seen in the pass few days. He was glad to see that she was obviously okay. Now he could focus on being more pissed about her scheming and manipulating without him.

"Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in." Harry drawled. Uma smiled and that was usually meant very good things for her and very  _bad_ things for someone else.

Usually Mal and her posse of backstabbers.

"Got a second to talk?" Uma asked. Harry almost declined just to be petty but quickly realized that that would be a fool's move. Plus Chad was starting to get in shower and Harry had learned the hard way that Chad like to sing - quite loudly - in the shower.

"After you." He said and she led him to a secluded point in the library.

"You're mad." She commented and Harry snorted, "Aren't I always?"

"At me."

"It's been a new development."

"It really has. Would you like to see?" Harry raised an eyebrow at her offer. See what? He asked her so.

"What I've been working on. The parts of the plan that you've been  _dying_ to see."

"And what's with the sudden change of heart?"

"Certain pieces have finally fallen into place." Something wasn't right. Uma wouldn't go all this way to keep her precious scheme to herself only to blurt it all out to him in the middle of an empty hallway. And what pieces? As far as Harry knew, Gil was still gathering information and Uma...was being Uma"Me...and Ben. You needed me and Ben." Harry theorized except it was a theory for he knew he was right. The look on  Uma's face only confirmed it. The only thing left was-

"Me...and Ben. You needed me and Ben." Harry theorized except it was a theory for he knew he was right. The look on  Uma's face only confirmed it.

"If it makes you feel better I think he feels the same way. Don't give me that face, I've seen the way you look at him and the way he looks at you. That boy has got a talent for reeling in villain kids. Somebody even a villain could love. Problem is that he looks at Mal in a similar light but that's okay. I don't need them to break up but that would've been nice."

Harry was flabbergasted and didn't even try to hide the confusion on his face. Was this what it was like to be Gil or Chad? He didn't know how they did it.

"It almost sounds like you  _wanted_ the both of us to get closer and fall for each other but that would only make things more complicated..."

Uma looked like she had been happily caught.

"Because that's what you wanted to happen. For Mal's leading man to fall for the leading man of her enemy which would only cause strife and chaos in their little group because-"

"-The easiest way to win a war is if your enemies are already fighting themselves." Uma finished with a grin on that would make the devil shiver. Or in this case, make Harry horrifically curious.

Uma started to walk down the hall and stopped once she noticed that Harry wasn't following, "Well don't you want to see what I've been up to?" She didn't even wait a second for him to process but the invitation  (more lIke ultimatum) was clear enough.

_Do or don't._

_Stay or leave._

Harry cursed under his breath before running up and falling into step with her. As they walked, Harry couldn't help but wonder that if the road to hell is paved with good intentions, where do you go if your intentions were anything but good?

He supposes he'll find out soon enough.

* * *

 

Like the rest of the room, Ben impatiently waited for class to be over. His head was swimming in anxiety and his stomach was knotted in stress. If he spent one more minute in here he was afraid that the walls might start closing in on him.

A part of him knew what was going on. After his first...mini transformation Fairy Godmother was able to track him down for at least a few minutes and explain as much as she could with the little information that she had.

In summary, since Ben was...an enhanced human (until he finished these random Beast gene growth spurts) he would have enhanced...well, everything. Sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch and emotions.

Especially emotions.

And until he got a grip on himself, Ben would have to suffer feeling every last bit of his mood swings. It stressed him out so much that he missed the bell ringing and Mal had to snap him out of his headspace.

"Ben? BennyBoo? Little Benny Foo-Foo? BEN!" The young king jolted in his seat to look up into purple. "Hey Mal."

"Hey yourself. You okay? Kinda lost you for a second."

Ben waved off her concern. "I'm good. Promise." He spotted the teacher at her desk preparing for the next class and decided then and there to do something...possibly life changing. Definitely stupid. "Wait for me at your locker? Please?" Ben asked.

"...Okay..." Mal agreed, cautious but curious. Ben waited for her to leave before going up to the teacher.

"Aye Benjamin, what  can  I  do  for  ye?" Mrs. Elinor asked at her desk where she was preparing for the next class. Her accent always made Ben smile. Not in a mocking way but in a more appreciative manner. It almost reminded him of-

"I was wondering if you remembered what you told our class a couple of weeks ago?" 

"...I barely remember what I just told your class." She joked and Ben should've expected that because who really remembers what they've said in the past?

"It was  something  about  having  multiple  loves  in  your  life ?" He  asked  hoping  that it would jog her memory which  seemingly worked as he could  see  the  light going off in her eyes.

"Oh yes!" She sprung up from her chair with the realization, "The three greatest loves of your life. What about them?"

_Now for the hard part..._

The best that Ben could do was stutter out a barely incoherent response. Luckily though, she was able to understand him. It made him wonder if the stories about her having the hearing of a bear was true. It would explain how she was  always able to catch kids in class even when she wasn't looking.

"W-What do you...I-If you l-lo- have very strong feelings for, no, W-What happens when-" She thankfully cut Ben off because all of that was just killing him.

"You love one but your heart might love another." She estimated knowingly. And while Ben wouldn't call it  _love_ it was definitely something. She walked around to the front of her desk to face the boy king better. "I take it you're stuck between Lady Mal and a new mystery person?"

The "Lady Mal" part kind of threw Ben for a loop. Hardly anyone called her that, much to Mal's pleasure, even though she kind of technically was a Lady. "Yeah, I guess you could say that." Ben said after a beat.

"Does Mal know?" Her voice was filled with simple curiosity instead of anything like anger or worse, pride. There were still those who disapproved with Ben dating a villain kid but Ben wasn't one to listen to the destructive whining of others.

"Yes...and no. She knows bits and pieces but not the whole story." 

_I don't even know the whole story._

"What a sticky situation." Mrs. Elinor replied thoughtfully, "I've seen Mal in action and she's a great girl...but I think you already knew that because that's not what you came here to hear. No, you want someone to tell you what to do about this mystery person who is throwing you for a loop despite how much you love Mal. I can see it, you really do love her."

Yes, a thousand times yes. That's exactly what Ben needed.

Mrs. Elinor sighed and stopped leaning on her desk to take Ben's hands into her own. They were soft and warm but the somber look in her eyes filled Ben up with dread. "I'm afraid my dear, that I can't do that for you. Nor can anyone else. This isn't a black and white situation."

"So you're saying that there's nothing I can do but sit back and watch as someone, maybe more, gets hurt?" Ben's voice cracked on the last part. Mrs. Elinor squeezed his hands tighter, "With love, somebody always gets hurt." She transferred her hands from his palms to cup his face, "But you have to figure which one of them is worth hurting for."  

Back to square one Ben's thinks. "And how do I do that."

She let her hands fall, "I think you already know. Deep down, you know what you have to do despite not wanting to do it."

Did he? Did he really?

Of course he did, it'd been lingering in the back of his mind since that last kiss with Harry, but  _God_ did he wish there was another option. Well, there was, but then it wouldn't be fair to anyone.

"...I don't think I can do it." He whispered, looking down.

She raised his chin up with her index finger, "You owe it to them to tell them to the truth."

"What if they can't handle the truth? What if _I_ can't handle the truth?"

"You owe it to  _yourself_ to find out."

Ben sniffled, struggling to keep his emotions at bay, "Thank you Mrs. Elinor, you've been a big help."

"I wish I could do more but the matters of the heart really are a bit of a solo journey. If it brings you any solace, you  _will_ be okay again and so will the people around you."

Ben couldn't help it, he just needed a bit of comfort right now and a phone call to his parents wouldn't cut it. Instantly, he wrapped his arms around Mrs. Elinor in a desperate hug. It took her a minute to recoil from the shock before she hug him back, just as tightly. She had a mother's hug. Correction: She had a  _good_ mother's hug. The ones that makes you feel safe and comforts you when the world is breaking on your shoulders.

Ben's really missed those types of hugs so it takes him a minute to pull away and say his goodbyes. Just before he's out the door he hears his teacher call out to him. "You don't believe it right now but you are extraordinary lucky. To love and be loved like you are is something most people can only dream of. You really will be okay whether you end up by yourself or with Mal...or Harry."

_How did she-_

The school bell cut off his mental question and kids swarmed into the room. Mrs. Elinor's sneaky bear-like smile was the last thing he saw before he left.

* * *

At her locker, Mal semi-patiently waited for Ben. He better have a damn good excuse for making them late. She wasn't doing detention at the office again helping correct papers.

All that bad grammar and made up words...

No, never again.

So when her boyfriend finally shows up she doesn't know whether to kiss him or hit him. So she decides on both. After a quick peck on the cheek she smacks him on his arm. "What the hell Ben? Where have you been?"

"Sorry, I had...student-teacher stuff to sort out." Ben offered as an excused.

"Like what?"

"Like getting in a good reason for both of us to be out of school for the rest of the day."

Mal shot him a disbelieving look, "You got that from talking to Mrs. Elinor?"

"...No. But I can get that from the main office with a quick phone call." He said with a smile but to Mal the smile looked just a little off. She humored him anyways, "And the place we are going to is...?"

"...It's a surprise." Ben answered and Mal shut that down instantly, "You have no idea do you?"

"No."

Mal scoffed and shook her head in amused disbelief before laughing, "Okay. Well, let me text the guys to let them know that we won't be in class for the rest of the day."

* * *

The dungeons.

Why wasn't Harry surprised that he would be down here again?

Except this time it looked like someone had attempted to clean up the place. Don't get him wrong, this underground prison (because what else could it possibly be at this point) still looked as unappealing and disgusting as ever. It called to a dark, morbid part of Harry but he ignored that for the moment in favor of surveilling the surroundings.

Fortunately, there were lit torches everywhere so the pirate boy could actually see unlike last time. Dirt, grime, dust and possibly blood still stained every possible surface. Bugs that weren't know to science yet, scaled the walls while what he thinks are rats crawled on the grounds. Spiderwebs decorated practically every corner and if he squinted he swears he can see spiders dancing happily in their dark little corner.

All in all, the place was horrific and disgusting. And yet again the darker parts of Harry preened a bit.

The really spooky part though, was the rusted bar prisons that lined the walls. Now it wasn't the structures themselves per say, but more what was in them. Namely; the chains. Harry picked one up out of curiosity and closed the manacles only to try to pull them open. As he suspected, they didn't budge. The last time he was here, the chains were so weak that a strong enough wind could break them. Now, even with all Harry's strength he probably wouldn't be able to get out of this without breaking a few bones. And that's if he was lucky.

"You like?" Uma asked from behind him, more taunting than curious. Harry let the manacles drop the floor with a thundering clang and faced the ocean girl. She stood with her hip out and arms crossed but the look on her face appeared as if she was genuinely looking for an answer.

"As nice as prisons are, spent my life in one if you didn't know, I'm more of a...top side person." Harry answered. More snarky than usual. So, Uma was showing him the dungeon was a little bit...less gross than last time, big deal, he needed to find out what he  _didn't_ already know.

"Has it ever crossed your mind the reason as to why I would want a dungeon?" Uma asked, slowly circling around him. Harry willed his facial features and body language to stay unfazed and neutral. It's bad enough that Uma has all the answers but if she finds out how desperate Harry, then things really will turn for the worse. He shrugs, "You're much kinkier than anyone thought?"

A smirk stretched across her face, "Not quite."

"Does it have to do with pieces of your new plan that you're holding oh so close?" It was a risk for him to say that, to give away that he doesn't know the grand scheme. It was a weakness, a dangerous play but a necessary one.

"Obviously." She stopped in the center of the room and slowly spun with her arms out, "This, will be a very important place for me...for us. But first things first," She pivoted towards her first mate, "Do you remember when we made that deal with Beastie Boy so long ago?"

Goblins, that felt that  _years_ ago.

"How could I forget?"  _It was that godforsaken deal that got us here in the first place. Sometimes I wonder what would've happened if Ben had never made it. Would anything have changed? Would things be different?_

_Would I be?_

"Do you remembered what that deal entailed?" Uma was clearly being coy but Harry was tired and fed up with this game of guessing and decided to simply answer the damn question with an actual answer instead of a question of his own. Devil knows she probably wouldn't answer it anyways.

"We come here, prove that it's "good", other Isle kids come over, we get to do whatever we want." Or at least something along those lines. What can Harry say? He's been a bit busy since then but the sly look on Uma's face told him that he was missing something. He racked his brain trying to remember back to the Isle. The first time he ran into them he was sent by Uma to get Mal to her. The second time was an actual accident, he was trying to use a shortcut when he ran into the infamous rats. Met them by Uma's work place, long boat ride, longer swim, blah, blah. blah.

What was he missing?

He closed his eyes and clenched his hands into fists hoping to will himself to remember.  

_"In exchange for your mothers orb and you and your crew's freedom, you, Gil and Harry will live in Auradon and go to Auradon prep as a means to convince Isle kids to transfer over. Only when we have a large amount of transfer _and only then_ can your entire crew cross the barrier, you can get your mother's orb and sail the seas to your heart's content. Do we have a deal?" _

_"Beastie boy..."_

_"We have a deal."_

Uma smiled as the past dawned on Harry. "You still want the orb." He said.

"Of course I do. I always did. It was part of the deal and it's only fair....right?" There was no questioning sound in her voice. Uma knew what she wanted.

"Still doesn't explain why we're standing in something that looks like it should be featured in Dungeons Daily." Which was, oddly enough, one of the few reading materials that was on the island. Now that Harry was off it, he could see in hindsight that villains were fucking weird.

She sighed, heavy but amused, "Well where else are we supposed to put them?"

He was gonna regret asking this. He didn't even ask yet and he regretted it. He regretted even _thinking_ it. Harry asked anyways, "Who?"

"...Everyone."

* * *

In Ben's opinion, learning how to ride a motorcycle was one of the best, if not the most fun, decisions he's ever made.

Next to letting villain kids in Auradon of course.

With him in the drivers spot and Mal clinging to him it brought back memories from their first ever date. That was a good day love spell or not. It was a joyous thought until it brought sadness to the forefront of his mind.

_Happy thoughts, happy thoughts. Let's just get through today, deal with everything later._

"This path seems familiar." Mal mused from the back.

"I hope so. My sentimental feelings would be so hurt if it didn't."

"This couldn't be the road to our, say, first date could it?"

"Nooo, of course not."

"You're a horrible liar." 

"I resent that, I am a fantastic liar." Ben could hear Mal laugh over the roar of the engine. It made him glad. All he wanted to do was keep Mal smiling, happy.

_Happy thoughts, goddammit, happy thoughts!_

They drove a bit before stopping before the bridge where Ben left his bike hidden among the trees. He would add a parking spot but then people would find it and ruining the bridge and muck up the lake and it may sound spoiled but Ben really liked the thought of having a special, quiet, beautiful place.

"Wow, this bridge looks totally unfamiliar." Mal said making it obvious she was joking. Ben mimicked her, "I know right. First time I've seen it."

Mal snickered before gently hitting him on the arm. "Let's go you dork. It looks like we're on an adventure." She started taking the lead down the bridge and Ben followed.

"Aye, aye captain."

Mal turned around, humor prancing in her eyes, "I look like Uma to you?"

Ben caught up to her, catching her by the waist, "My apologies. I meant, whatever you say M'lady." Ironically enough, that was her actual title. For now at least...

"Ah, your majesty, whatever shall we do with you?" Mal joked, poking him on the those. Ben spun them both around so that he was in the lead but was still holding both of Mal's hands.

"I have an idea." He said before running down the rest of the bridge while still holding at least one of Mal's hands. He only stopped when they reached the lake.

"Yup. Never seen this before in my life." Mal commented.

"Me neither." One look at each up had them cracking up and breaking the act before walking down to the pillars where they had their first picnic.

"So what's the plan Little Benny Foo-Foo? I'd say another picnic but I don't see any food."

"If you're desperate there might be some mint leaves somewhere in the forest."

"Only if it's peppermint."

The Enchanted Lake was as beautiful as ever. Warm breeze, blue skies and clear water where glowing fancy rocks laid below. "Let's swim." Ben offered.

"Let's not."

"Why not? Is the girl who can turn into a dragon scared of a bit of water?" He taunted.

"No," She automatically replied, "I don't have a bathing suit."

"Neither do I." Ben said, already stripping down to his boxers.

"BennyBoo, what has gotten into you?" Mal asked with her arms crossed but with lips twisted into a smirk. Ben, down to his socks now, shrugged, "I don't know. It's stupid, impulsive and reckless but..." He dove into the water getting submerged and popped up to Mal who hadn't budged yet, " I think I need a bit more of that in my life. Plus, you only live once right?"

"Did you just YOLO me?"

"I only YOLO'd you if you join me." Ben swam up to the steps where Mal leaned down to get closer to him. He gently grabbed her hand and looked her in the eyes, "Be reckless with me."

Mal shook her head and sighed before standing up and removing her jacket. "It's unfair. You actually have puppy dog eyes now."

Ben smiled, feeling successful, "And you can actually spit fire so I think we're even."

Mal kicked off her boots, shimmied out of her pants and place the ring that Ben gave her in a jacket pocket, "For making me swim? Never."

She did the opposite of Ben. Instead of diving right in she made her way down the steps and slowly waded her way through the water before floating on her back. "Wait a minute", Ben started, "I thought you didn't know how to swim."

"Lonnie showed me a couple of things a little while back."

"Really? Well show me what you got." Accepting the challenge, Mal stopped floating in order to show him basic swimming and the doggy paddle. "I'm impressed." Ben complimented.

"Thank you." Mal said trying to do a curtsy in the water but almost tipping over.

"Care to expand on your education?"

"Think you can do better?" Mal asked standing straight with her hands on her hips. Ben snorted, "Better than Lonnie at something athletic? God no. That's like seeing a unicorn. Rare if not impossible."

While Mal was laughing Ben couldn't help noticing her...physique. Call him a pig for looking but he really couldn't help it this time. Mal was beautiful on the inside but even a blind man could see her outer beauty as well. Not to mention that Ben was a sixteen year old boy who was quite literally turning into an animal. He thinks he's been doing a pretty good job so far of being respectful but right now all he can focus on is how Mal's darkened purple hair is precisely framing the outline of her light purple bra. And he can see the top edges of her black panties. Not to mention thanks to the water and sun she was actually  _glowing._

He knew she was a pixie but goddamn, she looked unreal.

Ben wafted his way through the water to Mal who was still laughing. He took a second to cradle her face before going in for a kiss. A kiss that she deepened while loosely wrapping her arms around him. A kiss that got very heated despite the water and was only broken because air was a necessity.

"What was that for?" Mal panted out.

"I thought kissing you would be better than pinching myself."

"Is that so?" She chuckled and Ben fervently nodded. "Yup. And I don't think I was wrong."

"Neither do I."

* * *

The two of them stayed at the lake the rest of the day. Granted there was a thirty minute break where they left to go and get some actual food before coming back. But before that Mal was able to get Ben to try a mint leaf that he ended up coughing back up in disgust two seconds after he ate it while Mal howled in laughter.

Breath holding contests, lounging around, splashing each other or just swimming, they did it all. Ben was even able to show Mal how to breaststroke. Everything was good and as the sun went down Mal and Ben sat at the pillared structure simply talking. They had gotten dress but were both still rather damp.

"Good day?" Ben asked.

"Very. Much better than sitting in class dissecting spells that we'll never use. Sounds kind of redundant if you ask me."

Ben hummed in agreement. "Why we'd come here?" Mal asked. There was a pause before Ben answered, "Just wanted to take you out today."

"Well I..." Mal got up and walked across so that she was closer to Ben. He wrapped and arm around her, "am grateful. Today really was fun."

"I'm glad." The two of them sat there for who knows how long just enjoying the stars and the silence. Until Mal broke it that is. "You ever think about the decisions you make in your life? Like in the moment of making a particularly epic decision you wonder about the other decisions that got you there. And then there's after the fact when you think about every choice you ever made. Depending on who you are you regret nothing or you regret everything?"

Ben huffed out a dry laugh before replying, "More than you could ever know."

"Oh yeah, you got that whole king thing going on. Well I've never been in your exact spot but I do know what it's like to be a leader and have people look up to you even when you don't know what to do yourself. I think that's when decisions are really important. When the outcome doesn't just affect you but everything and everyone else around you."

Ben felt like crying. And he could tell that some beastly feature was only seconds away from popping up but he didn't care. Because he just realized that there was no easy way to do this. No way to just rip the bandaid off and have it sting for a bit. No, this was going to blister and burn. This was going to  _hurt._  As a prince, he's had to make decisions about appearance and preparation for the thrown. As a king, he's had to make choices about his people and the world around him. As a boy, he's had to live to live with a kingdom on his shoulders and Audrey in his hand and just general life and all the horribly amazing or amazingly horrible curbs the universe has thrown at him (as if the universe cared) but nothing prepared him for this.

He may have been a king, he may turn into a beast, but he is still just a boy with a bleeding heart. A heart that was about to break in two.

Ben let go of Mal and stood up, feeling the sudden need to stretch his legs. Mal stood up with him, silent and waiting. She knew something was wrong. Ben faced away from her inhaling and exhaling trying to steady his heart to no avail. He turned to her red eyed but not crying, not yet. Once again he pressed his lips against hers giving everything he could into the kiss. It wasn't so much of a "Goodbye" kiss but more of a "Thank You" kiss.

Thank you for coming to Auradon.

Thank you for giving me a chance, nefarious plans or not.

Thank you for loving the parts of me I thought I had to hide.

Thank you for introducing me to three of the weirdest most wonderful people I have ever met.

Thank you for letting me love you.

Thank you for loving me.

_Thank you for it all._

They separated but stayed close, foreheads touching. Ben gently caressed her cheek with his thumb before whispering "I love you." Mal didn't reply but closed her eyes instead. That was okay though because Ben knew that she loved him.

"I love you...so much." With his heightened vision Ben could see the single tear drop from Mal's left eye but she stayed silent. "And it's because I love you that....I won't-I can't...." Ben shut down a bit as the tears silently streamed down his face. He took this chance to tentatively wrap his arms around Mal. She stood there limp. Not accepting nor rejecting. Ben took a couple of breaths before trying to continue. "You have my heart but-"

"-I'm not the only one." It was so faint and if Ben didn't have enhanced hearing he would've missed it. A part of him wishes that he did miss it. She pulled away from him but remained close. "Harry Hook. Who would've thought." Mal let out the driest, most broken laugh that almost rivaled Ben's.  She started to pull his ring off her finger, "Well, I guess this isn't for me anymore."

Ben stopped her before she could finish, securing the ring on her index and kissing it. "You keep it. This ring is yours. It will always be yours. It wouldn't be right on anyone else." 

She didn't say anything but stopped trying to taking it off. They stayed in the quiet a bit before Ben stupidly asked if she was okay.

"I'm fine." She dully bit out.

"You're a horrible liar."

"I resent that, I am a fantastic liar." Her voice sounded hollow as she repeated his words from earlier.

Mal stayed silent as she walked away from him to lean on a pillar. "So what now?" She asked after a long quiet moment.

"I still want you in my life Mal. I need you to not disappear." It was selfish and unfair but Ben has spent his life trying to give pieces of himself for others, for the greater good. Couldn't he have this one thing?

"As for everything else...I have no idea." Wasn't that the truth. There was no strategy, no plan, just being. Right now "just being" hurt like a bitch. Mal leaned off the pillar and stumbled up to Ben. She tilted his head down and stood on her tips to press a long kiss on his forehead.

When she broke away she curled her hand in his hand, "I love you too Ben." As her hand fell Ben caught it with her own and squeezed it. Wanting, needing her to stay but she pulled her hand back. Even though Ben closed his eyes he could still here the sound of her transforming and the flapping of her wings in the wind even as they grew faint.

(Mal wouldn't think much of it now but she would later recall noticing two people that looked like Uma and Harry coming back from the cathedral while she was flying.)

The sound of wings disappeared leaving Ben alone with the water, trees and moon. It was that moment, when he was truly alone, that he allowed himself to fully break.

Down to his knees he fell. Eyes glowing earnestly, claws out and fangs emerging. Feeling naked and bare and broken Ben wailed. A wail that anything with ears for miles could hear. But don't get confused for it wasn't the sound of a broken beast...

But a broken boy.

* * *

 

Uma had told him the plan.

She told him  _all_ of it.

The original scheme was child play compared to this. 

Hours later and Harry was still reeling. Also, apparently while he was gone Uma and Gil had taken advantage of the VK's and king not being here. It wasn't as if the plan was staring soon, no, it had been in motion for quite a long time.

"I'm still peeved that you told Gil before me." Harry complained. They were walking the halls towards Harry's room because this new scheme had so many details to it that not one thing could go wrong.

Uma shrugged, "He had less distractions as you."

"Less distracted? When we first got here he was obsessed with laundry soap...still is."

"Are you really trying to whine about Gil being more conscious about hygiene?" Uma asked dryly. She had a point. "...No." Harry admitted 

"Didn't think so. Besides, Gil was able to still be a pirate underneath the whole schoolboy mirage."

Harry took personal offense to that, "And what, I'm not?"

"Did I mention you?"

"Didn't have to."

"Well if you're the first person that you thought of maybe that means something."

"What does that even-"

"-I _believe_ this is your dorm."  Uma interrupted. Harry looked up and it indeed was his room number. "I'll see you." Uma said before walking away leaving Harry dumbfounded in the hallway for a second before he entered his room. 

Chad was sitting on his bed eating pizza and watching T.V. when he looked up to see Harry return. "Hey Harry." His roommate blandly grunted a greeting.

"Fun day?" Chad asked. He was much more mellow than usual Harry noted. "Interesting day." Harry answered.

"Hangout with some friends?"

Harry smirked while shrugging off his coat and flinging it on his bed, "Why? Feeling left out?"

"I live with you. I don't think that's possible. I was just curious about Ye."

What?

"What?" 

"Ye. You used to bring them up all the time but I haven't heard their name in...weeks?...Months?" 

It was like a bomb going off in his brain. When was the last time he said "ye" or used any pirate jargon at all? Or terrorized someone for the hell of it? Or was impolite or insulting and brash? OR wore his damn pirate hat? Dear goblins, when was the last time that he was even  _near_ water if not in it that wasn't the shower?

Showering on the Isle with hot water was a rare luxury and now it was an everyday occurrence. 

Class, interning, vacationing, his...Devil knows what with Ben, a king, _the_ king. Living with Chad, a prince for crying out loud. Chad, one of the dumbest human beings he's ever met was able to point out Harry's behavior without even knowing what he figured out.

_"Gil was able to still be a pirate underneath the whole schoolboy mirage."_

_"Well if you're the first person that you thought of maybe that means something."_

Harry wasn't a pirate because he wasn't acting like one. All this time he thought he was playing Auradorians but in reality his was turning  _into_ one. And  _that's_ why Uma didn't tell him everything. Because she didn't know what side he'd choose. Not anymore.

Hell,  _he_ didn't know what side he'd choose.

And that in itself spoke volumes.

Harry's feet started moving before his brain even gave to "go" signal. Chad was calling out behind him but Harry could barely hear him. He could barely hear anything as he raced down the hall and out the door chasing after Uma. She was in a different wing heading for her dorm. At the sounds of heavy footsteps closing in she whipped around ready to fight until she noticed that it was just Harry.

He slowed down as he got closer to her, panting a bit before speaking. "You're- I mean yer...right."

"I know I'm right but damn, that was quick. It's been like, what? Three minutes?"

Harry waved off her teasing, "I'm serious...I'm ready."

Uma's expression turned serious, "If you're serious, there's no going back. No more stalling, no more set backs. If we do this...it's now or never."

"I choose now." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> None of me wanted to write this chapter.
> 
> SNEAK PEAK:  
> "Three days. 
> 
> They had less than three days to get everything prepared and between getting everything set up and somehow saving Ben (to the best of his ability), the only thing that Harry was presently concerned with was why Chad still. Wasn't. Wearing. Pants.
> 
> "Why? Wha' be this needs to be pant-less?" Harry asked.
> 
> "...It's freeing."
> 
> Chad didn't even own normal underwear. He actually had a pair of underwear that had small circular mirrors glued or sewn onto them. How Chad didn't break them or stab himself, Harry would never know. He wasn't even sure he wanted to know.
> 
> "You should try it sometime." Chad suggested before bending down to look into the mini fridge. Before Harry could reply, with an insult no doubt, his phone went off with a text message.
> 
> "Set Sails." It was from Gil. It was also the chosen signal for their plan. Harry sighed before getting off his bed and slinging on his jacket. He looked over at Chad who obliviously had his ass out for the world (but unfortunately just Harry) to see and Harry just shook his head in fond-ish exasperation. Maybe he's been living with this fool for too long or maybe all the hair product that Chad used was finally getting to him but a part of Harry that had gotten used to living with him was gonna kind of sorta miss this chump.
> 
> He walked up to Chad who had just closed the fridge and was holding an armful of sport drinks. His face was covered in power because of the powdered donuts he'd quickly shoved in his mouth while he was in the fridge. Chad sneezed and dropped a drink on his toe. The shock and pain caused him to drop all of the drinks as he hopped on one foot cradling his toe.
> 
> Maybe "miss" was too strong of a word. 
> 
> Nevertheless, Harry walked up to him and patted him on the shoulder, "Gotta go."


	20. What A Good (Bad) Time To Be Alive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a very good chance that some of you guys are gonna kiiilll meee...

When Mal walked into the boys' dorm the next morning the last thing she expected was to see Carlos pacing around while having a mini heart attack. Well, as mini as it could be because...it's Carlos.

Small guy, big freak outs.

"Um...what's up?" Mal asked, closing the door behind her and leaning on it. Jay spoke up from his bed where he was petting Dude. "Carlos thinks that Jane's dead."

"I DO NOT THINK THAT SHE'S DEAD!" Carlos immediately denied, "This is Auradon, she couldn't be dead...right?"

"Right." Jay propped himself off the bed and handed Dude off to Carlos for petting, "Here, take him. You need him more than I do."

"I just have a bad feeling." Carlos admitted while stroking Dude's fur.

"Could be indigestion, or gas...or both!" Jay replied. 

"As interesting as this is, why all the hoopla over Jane? " Mal asked, "Where is she?" Jay was the one to answer her. "That's the thing; no one knows. Apparently, she was supposed to meet up with Carlos before school started but never showed. And that was two hours ago."

 _"Spooky...for Auradon."_ Mal thought and she said so too.

"Is it really though?" The beanie clad boy questioned, "You guys know that Jane is always running around campus under Fairy G's orders. She probably forgot about a last minute errand and scurried off to go finish it. I swear, that girl is as fast as mice."

"Maybe." Mal considered and Carlos reluctantly agreed. "Plus we can always talk to Fairy Godmother if you're still worried." She offered but Carlos waved the idea off. "No, I don't wanna worry our headmistress especially if Jay's right for once."

"Thanks...HEY!"

Carlos continued like he wasn't interrupted, "Is there anyone else we can go to who might know where Jane is?" 

The three of them stood there for a moment pondering as to who it could be until Jay figured it out. "Lonnie!" He said with a snap of his fingers.

"Text her. Ask if she's seen Jane. And what about Evie? Where is she?" Carlos asked. That last question was meant for Mal who shrugged. When she had gotten back from flying around last night the only thing that she wanted to do was sleep the pain away. When the morning morning came she hadn't seen Evie so she figured that Evie was either with Doug or doing some type of early class or council thing. It wasn't the first time this has happened.

"Before I forget to ask, why aren't you two in class?" Mal asked. 

"Honestly, no idea. Eh, that's not exactly true. Do you know how many advanced class that Carlos takes... _willingly?_ I'm pretty sure he has enough credits to skip going to school for the rest of the year but he won't because...he's Carlos." Jay started, referring to horrified look on Carlos's face at the prospect of not going to school, "And you couldn't pay me to go to Magical Equations by myself." He finished with a scowl and it made Mal giggle, however soft.

"You really hate that class don't you?"

"More than you will ever know." The three of them sat around waiting for Lonnie to answer when an idea came to Carlos's mind. "Hey, why don't we invite Ben along? I'm sure he'd be a great help with all his connections."

At the look of the involuntary wince from Mal, both of the boys demeanors changed to something with a darker undertone.

"What. Happened?" They both asked simultaneously. Mal was saved by the bell from answering or more accurately, Jay's phone notification sound. Carlos got to his phone before Jay did but if the look on Jay's face was anything to go by, they were far from finishing that conversation.

Great.

"Lonnie says that she can talk to us after she finishes up in the gym." Carlos summarized from Jay's phone.

"Dude, how do you know my password?"

"...You're basic."

"How about instead of us standing around like helpless morons," She got off the door and opened it referencing at leaving, "we go to Lonnie and figure out where Jane is." Mal couldn't help it, she was intrigued. While she didn't know Jane as well as Carlos probably did, she _did_ know that Jane was scary punctual and obsessively organized and people like that don't just mysterious go off the grid.

Then again, it's been two hours. 

Maybe Carlos was rubbing off on her.

"Maybe we shouldn't start searching." Mal backtracked, "I mean, back on the Isle we wouldn't search for someone unless they were gone for at least a week."

"...That's a good point." Jay agreed.

"Back on the Isle we would barely search for anyone, if ever." Carlos argued.

"...That's a good point too." Jay realized, "Okay. Let's go and talk to Lonnie and see what happens from here. Mal's right by saying that sitting on our hands isn't helping. Somebody text Evie, she might know something."

As the three of them were leaving, a question popped in Carlos's head. "Hey Mal, why aren't you in school either."

Mal's eyes glazed over with memories of recent events washing over her. Her heart still throbbed in short gasps of pain whenever she thought about Ben or the breakup. It even made her shiver. 

"Trust me, I don't think my absence will be missed today."

* * *

Three days.

They had less than three days to get everything prepared and between getting everything set up and somehow saving Ben (to the best of his ability), the only thing that Harry was presently concerned with was why Chad still. Wasn't. Wearing. Pants.

"Why? Wha' be this needs to be pant-less?" Harry asked.

"...It's freeing."

Chad didn't even own normal underwear. He actually had a pair of underwear that had small circular mirrors glued or sewn onto them. How Chad didn't break them or stab himself, Harry would never know. He wasn't even sure he wanted to know.

"You should try it sometime." Chad suggested before bending down to look into the mini fridge. Before Harry could reply, with an insult no doubt, his phone went off with a text message.

"Set Sails." It was from Gil. It was also the chosen signal for their plan. Harry sighed before getting off his bed and slinging on his jacket. He looked over at Chad who obliviously had his ass out for the world (but unfortunately just Harry) to see and Harry just shook his head in fond-ish exasperation. Maybe he's been living with this fool for too long or maybe all the hair product that Chad used was finally getting to him but a part of Harry that had gotten used to living with him was gonna kind of sorta miss this chump.

He walked up to Chad who had just closed the fridge and was holding an armful of sport drinks. His face was covered in power because of the powdered donuts he'd quickly shoved in his mouth while he was in the fridge. Chad sneezed and dropped a drink on his toe. The shock and pain caused him to drop all of the drinks as he hopped on one foot cradling his toe.

Maybe "miss" was too strong of a word.

Nevertheless, Harry walked up to him and patted him on the shoulder, "Gotta go."

Before he was out the door he took a second to tell Chad one last thing. "Ye means you. You idiot." And then he left, not bothering to see the surely bewildered look on his roommate's face.

Outside in the hallway the pirate boy sent out a quick text back - coded of course - about how he was on his way. While walking he racked his brain for ideas and schemes or just anything about how he could help Ben escape the growing shit storm that was just on the horizon, there wasn't much time. 

What was he talking about, there was  _no_ time.

But still, that selfish part of him kept telling him to push on, to keep thinking because even if Ben ended up hating him (and he surely would) at least he was be safe.

...Mostly safe.

...Kind of safe.

Alive and that's as far as he's going.

Making his way down to the the dungeons Harry took the time to look at the scenery before him. When he first got here he couldn't stand it, any of it. Not the always bright blue day or that goddamn sun. Or the blooming flowers and trees. Or people who always seemed to be smiling and that to him was more frightening than the scowls he was used to because there is no sane reason for someone to be smiling all the time. Time had passed and as much as he despised to admit it, Harry had changed. Not enough to stop Uma but enough to notice a difference.

Enough to save at least one person from this shit show.

But how? 

Before he knew it, Harry was standing in front of the cathedral, hesitating to go in but he knew he couldn't go back. Steeling his spine, Harry charged up the steps inside and went down to the dungeons below where Uma was doing...whatever it was that she did when she was down here alone. Thankfully, the torches were lit.

"Did Gil already leave?" Harry asked. Uma responded with her back still to him. Harry didn't mind, he didn't even care with his thoughts elsewhere.

"You just missed him."

"So if he's already gone, wha're we doin' here?" The reason why Uma wasn't looking at Harry was because she was too busy admiring the work that Gil did just this morning. If Harry thought long and hard enough, it was easy to see how Gil had done the most work, was _still_ doing the most work. Gil being gone wasn't a coincidence. He was off doing something for Uma, as if what he did this morning wasn't enough. Harry stepped up beside Uma to take a look at the cells himself. He still couldn't believe that Gil did it. To not just bring one, or two but _three_ people in today. While two of them were still chained and unconscious, the other had awakened and was cowering in the corner. 

Uma was gleeful, Harry was indifferent and Gil was just gone. For the moment at least.

"Ye ready to get this show on the road?" Harry brusquely asked, snapping Uma's attention to him.

"Why are you in such a rush? Don't you want to enjoy the moment? When we're so close to success?"

"Key word bein' 'close'. Let's nah forget that well-nigh every villain we know went down 'cause they got too damn cocky. Nah to mention our...wee visitors might be missed aft a couple of hours." Harry stated.

Uma rolled her eyes before replying. "A couple of hours is all we need but I supposed you're right. We didn't come this far only to stop now. Let's go." She turned to the exit and started to walk away with Harry behind her before she spoke again.

"I have a feeling that Fairy Godmother will wanna know where her daughter is."

* * *

To their great dismaying surprise, Mal, Jay and Carlos had gone to the gym only to find it empty. 

"Where's Lonnie?" Mal asked Jay who shrugged in response. "She said she'd be here."

"Maybe we're early?" Carlos suggested.

"How are we early when she was already here?" Jay rebuffed. 

"Maybe she left for a snack or a break or something?" Carlos tried. While the boys went back and forth about the possible whereabouts of Lonnie, Mal stayed silent and pacing, trying to think. 

This felt too weird, too off. First, she wakes up and there's no sign of Evie, which is fine until she finds out that no one's heard from Jane. Two people who are known for being on time suddenly disappearing? And now Lonnie who said she'd be here only for them to be led to an empty gym.

Something wasn't right.

"Jay, give me your phone." Jay fished his phone out of one of his many pockets and handed it to Mal who used it to call Lonnie's phone. A dull distant thrum could be heard in the gym while Jay's phone rang.

"Where's that coming from?" Jay asked looking around but Carlos beat him to it, jumping behind one of the hurdle blocks and finding Lonnie's phone on the floor. "Why would she leave her phone here?" 

Mal walked over to Carlos and grabbed Lonnie's phone which now had a long singular crack running down it. "She didn't. Either she was startled and it fell or she was taken and it fell. Or hell, maybe she planted it..."

"Taken?"

"Planted?"

Jay groaned. A sound of irritation, paranoia and a hint of fear. "Why does it feel like we just stepped in the middle of a mystery?"

 _"Because we probably just did."_ Mal thought.

Jay took his phone from Mal and called Evie who's phone went straight to voicemail. He called Doug and the same thing happened. "The lovebirds aren't answering their phones...or maybe they can't...Shit."

Carlos shook his head in disbelief, trying to gather his thoughts. "So let me get this straight; none of us has seen Evie since last night and she isn't answering her phone and neither is her boyfriend. We haven't seen Jane either who hasn't picked up her phone and now the only other person who could help find her suddenly disappears too leaving only her phone behind?"

A collective chill went down each three's spines.

Mal pocketed the phone in her backpack and started to march off with the boys at her heels. "Carlos, where did you guys say you and Jane had to meet?"

"At the water fountain out front."

"We're going there."

"To do what?" Jay asked.

"I don't know." Mal said, "But we're gonna find out."

* * *

To Harry's - and other's - astounding fascination, he and his friends hadn't been sent to the headmistress's all that much. Whenever they were invited to the Fairy's office it was usually under royal or school business.

Too bad they didn't really have an invitation now.

With Uma in the lead she took it upon herself to be the one to knock three times on the door. With the jovial air she had about her one might think she was here with good news. Well, good news for other people not just herself.

Fairy Godmother opened her door, surprised to see any visitors at the moment especially Uma and Harry.

"Good morning. How may I help you two?"

Harry stepped up taking his place at Uma's right and passed his hands through his hair. Goblins he missed his hat but making his hair seem messier - and ergo make him seem crazier- would have to do.

" 'Tis more like wha' we can do fer ye."

* * *

The core four minus one barreled their way to the fountain through hordes of kids who were ignorant of the situation upon them. One more accidental push and Jay just might accidentally on purpose punch someone in the mouth. Alas though, they reached the fountain and despite all logic, were disappointed to find it empty.

"Look for clues." Mal ordered.

"Like what?" Jay asked, befuddled.

"Anything!" Carlos said. And the three of them search around the best they could despite it being daylight and the many awkward stares they got from their fellow classmates. Jay parked himself on the edge of the water fountain and took his beanie off to play with just so he could do something with his hands. "I'm not saying to give up but what in the world are we supposed to be doing?"

"Clues! Looking for clues!" Carlos answered, frantically clawing at the ground for something, anything. Today's events had put him on edge, making his brain unlike it's usual sharp self.

"What kind of clues though?" Jay asked despairingly, "All we have are theories and a screen cracked phone. I hate to be the one to say this but why don't we just go to Fairy G and tell her about what we found?"

"Oh yeah, three kids from the Isle who have nearly brought ruins to Auradon twice now come to Fairy Godmother with ideas of a possible multi-kidnapping that conveniently includes her daughter." Carlos snapped from the ground. Mal placed her hands on her hips. Maybe they were going about this all wrong. Hell, who knows if they were even in the right place?

Maybe she could...

"Guys, keep a look out." Mal cautiously looked around her before raising her index and middle fingers for a spell.

_Don't cause a blackout, don't cause a blackout!_

"Treasure lost, treasure found, give me a sign to track this thing like a hound." A green zap flew into the air, zig-zagging all around them much to the worry of the three teens. Things seems less hopeful when the green ray went into the dirt but it ended up raising a dirty, ripped pink cloth from the ground and dropping it in Mal's palm.

_What the in the name of goblins is-_

"It's Jane's bow!" Carlos answered Mal's unasked question an he was right. It hard to tell with it all frayed and caked on with dirt but it was one of Jane's signature bows.

"Why would it be buried in the dirt?" Jay asked.

"What if it's the same thing with Lonnie? Maybe there was a struggle and the bow fell. Plus there's been hundreds of kids who probably walked through here. It must've gotten buried by accident." 

"So what do we do now?" Carlos asked. Mal minutely shook her head in disbelief. She had no idea. If Auradon Prep students were being picked off one by one...why? And by who? But there was one more thing she wanted to check before any of them did anything drastic.

"No one's heard from Evie yet right?"

Both boys nodded.

"Well, if we can't find her...we tear this place apart until we find our friends or the truth or both."

* * *

It was weird sitting in Fairy Godmother's office. Maybe it was because it was natural instinct for Harry to automatically ignore and disrespect authority but this was still weird.

"You two have something for me I presume." Fairy Godmother said at her desk, ever so calm despite the growing knot in her stomach. The wry grin on Uma's face and the cocked eyebrow on Harry didn't help much.

"More or less." Uma started, "But you have something for me. Two things actually."

"Which are?"

"One is my dear old mother's orb and the next...well we'll get to that in a second. Where's the orb?"

Fairy Godmother took a pause before she answered, "Safe."

"Cute. Now where's the location Ms. Bippity." It was phrased like a question but stated like a demand.

"What's that other thing you wanted from me?" Fairy Godmother questioned hoping to stall to find out what these two were up to but Uma simply wasn't having it.

"Is that how you want to play it?" Uma asked, amused, "Okay. I want that sparkly little wand of yours."

Fairy Godmother's reaction was almost immediate but sadly, very predictable. "I will  _never_ give you that wand."

"That's fine. I don't need you to give me the wand per say, but just cast a quick little spell with it." The headmistress was only seconds from reply before Uma cut her off before she could even utter a word out. "Before you deny me, I would insist that you think about your daughter."

The look on Fairy Godmother's face quick turned from prideful and indignant to a righteous fearful anger. "What have you done with Jane?"

Harry took this moment to finally join in on the conversation, "Nothin'...yet. But if ye wants it to stay that way I highly suggest ye do wha' the cap'n asks." He took a second to lean of his chair and onto the desk, looking the older fairy straight in the eyes. Relishing in the control he had, and the fear her eyes were drowning in, Harry chose his next words very carefully.

"I'd hate to see anything bad happen to her while she rots away."

* * *

Dorm room, class rooms, decorating halls, gardens, lunch areas, the roofs, the bathrooms, Evie was nowhere to be found.

The three of them had abruptly stopped in the middle of some nameless hallway, too out of breath to continue for the moment. This was especially true to Jay who just trotted up to the other two and stopped to rest his hands on his knees. "Not...in the...cooking class...either." He gasped in between breathes.

"Where...could she...have gone?" Carlos panted out. Mal pushed herself off the wall she was leaning in, already walking away to another destination in mind. "There's...one more place that we can check...and I'm a little pissed that we didn't think of this room sooner."

* * *

"It's simple." Uma stated, sitting firmly at the edge of the Headmistress's desk. "You get me my orb, do your little bippity boppity thing with your wand and you get your daughter back safe and sound."

"Might be a wee traumatized though." Harry muttered under his breath but not low enough seeing as Uma laughed and Fairy Godmother glared.

"And if I don't?" 

Uma took this moment to lean in closer, to emphasize her point if anything. "Then she'll be much more than a little bit traumatized." 

"I suppose the spell you want is to take down the barrier?" Fairy Godmother asked, ashamed she was even contemplating this but...her daughter. Right now, she was defenseless. It was moments like these that made people prior want to put all villains in some type of prison. Alas, villains bear villains but maybe that wouldn't be so if they had a different system.

Maybe Jane would be safe right now.

"Oh Devil no." Uma rebuffed, "Can you imagine the chaos of trying to get both Auradon and the Isle under my thumb at the exact same time? Only a fool would try to do that. No, what I want is for you to create just a little hole big enough for a person..or say multiple people to go through."

"What?"

Harry strode across the room and squatted himself down to Fairy Godmother's house, happy to crowd her personal space. "Ye see, a heartie of ours be patiently waitin' fer ye to open an entry into the isle so that he can get a few more of our hearties. Doesn't that sound fun? Don't ye like the sound of that? The power of friendship?"

"Heartie? Do you mean Gil Legume?"

I knew ye had more goin' fer ye than jus' yer pretty pumpkins." Harry sneered. He couldn't keep the amused cruelty out of his voice and moreover, he didn't want to. For the first time since he's stepped on Auradon soil, he's felt like his old self again.

God has he missed that impulsive, sadistic, cunning bastard.

"And if you're worried about the orb, just remember that Beastie Boy already promised it to us already so think of it as just keeping the king's debt." Uma added.

"So do we 'ave a deal?" Harry pressed, "The orb and a quick little spell for your daughter." At the sight of Fairy Godmother hesitating, Harry became even more persistent. As entertaining as this was, he really wanted to get this over with.

He had other things to do, other people on his mind.

He got even closer to her and almost laughed when she turned her head to the side to avoid his gaze. "C'mon, I get that ye love yer country but are ye really goin' to sacrifice yer owns flesh 'n blood fer a pack of strangers?" At this point he was so close that he had to lean on both arm rests for support, firmly locking the headmistress in place.

"I've been here fer quite a bit 'n even a blind scallywag can see that ye Auradorians aren't as cracked up to be as ye say ye be. Ye lot all preach about kindness 'n fair play but ye'd jus' as soon as turn yer backs if it meant savin' yer owns skin."

_You turned your back on the Isle and look what happened. This is all your fault..._

Tenderly, Harry raised his hooked hand to turn Fairy Godmother's face towards him. Cool steel on warm flesh. It was gentle, almost lovingly, which made it all the more cruel. They were so close that their noses were only a hair length apart. Even as her eyes watered, Fairy Godmother had no place to look other than Harry's sea blue green eyes and his piercing stare.

Some may even say that it's the stare that broke her because Harry knew what she wanted, what she needed. 

Permission.

Permission to break the rules, to not be so responsible, to be selfish, to be just the tiniest bit evil. 

"Give us wha' we wants 'n save yer daughter."

* * *

Why the three of them hadn't thought to stop at the Doug's dorm first, they had no idea. But what mattered was that they were here now.

And the door was locked.

"Stand back." Jay said, getting ready to kick the door down but Mal already had a spell ready. In true deja vu fashion, by the time Mal finished and the door opened, Jay had already catapulted himself into the air only to land on the floor.

"...WARN A GUY!" Jay moaned from the floor as Carlos struggled to help him up. Mal would've responded but she was a little busy looking at the utter carnage that was Doug and Gil's dorm room.

Lamps were broken, the T.V. sat in a pile of ruins on the floor, the beds were unmade and one mattress laid in tatters on the ground, bookshelves had been knocked over with ripped books littering the ground. 

And that's just some of the first few things they saw.

"What. Happened?" Jay asked for what felt like the thousandth time that day.

"Another struggle." Mal figured, "Let me guess; no one's heard from Doug all day either."

Both boys shook their heads and Mal sighed.

"I guess this makes it official. Someone's kidnapping Auradon kids...but why?" Carlos questioned while inspecting the room.

"What do they all have in common?" Mal asked. Jay scoffed, "Other than the fact that they go to Auradon? Pretty much nothing. That, and they're friends with us."

_They're friends with us._

"UMA!" The three of them cried simultaneously. Jay broke out in groans while Carlos broke out questions and Mal stayed silent, plopping on the bed that was still in it's frame, trying to think.

What reason would Uma have for kidnapping their friends? That one's easy: revenge, but what's the plot here? This all seemed so sketchy and hidden but obvious yet subtle. It was making Mal's brain hurt. It wasn't unlike Uma to draw attention to her ploys, she loved the spotlight but why in the hell would you be so damn meticulous about your other crime scenes if you're just going to leave one in a complete and total mess. There's no damn point in it other than to-

"She's distracting us!" Mal exclaimed, going as far as to leap off the bed. The other two looked at her in confusion.

"Think about it! Jane goes missing and the only other person who could possibly track her down who isn't her mother is Lonnie, who mysteriously disappears too. Uma knew that we wouldn't go to Fairy Godmother because of our track history, which made Lonnie the next choice. Plus, only one trace hint was left at each of the crime scenes." The purple haired girl pulled out both Lonnie's phone and Jane's bow from her backpack, "They weren't dropped there, they were left there on purpose for us to find. The only thing I can't figure out is why this place is a mess."

It took a beat but Carlos came up with a theory. "What if it wasn't apart of their plan?"

"Huh?"

"Say you're right, every place where a kidnapping went down was next to spotless yet this place looks like a tornado hit it."

"Not to mention, it would be too obvious to take Evie, at least this early in their undeniable scheme." Jay added.

"So what if only Jane and Lonnie were the intended targets but somehow, someway, Evie and Doug got involved and that's why we haven't seen them?" Carlos finished.

"You know what's more than a little bit creepy? Those sea swines had to know our schedules down to the tee in order to pull this off." Jay mentioned.

"What if it was Gil?" Carlos asked, "I mean, he lives with Doug. Doug, who is always with Evie, Evie, who is always with us."

"Makes sense." Mal replied. 

"So now what?" Jay asked. 

"We need to find the why in order to figure out the where." Mal answered. 

"And we do that how?" Carlos inquired. With two fingers already in the air, Mal started chanting. "I need to find my friends, I need to find them quick, send me sign, a clue, a something, anything that will stick."

For a moment there was nothing but a rumbled from the room's mini fridge grabbed their attention. It sounded like something was trying to get out. Cautiously, Jay made his way to the door edging his hand to the handle before the door flew open and the water from the water bottles inside spilled open onto the floor.

"A mess? What we have is a mess? Like we didn't know that already." Carlos sassily commented but he spoke to soon because the water droplets began to rise from the floor in the collective bunch and banded together to make what looked like a crown made of water. It only stayed animated for about ten seconds before it collapsed in on itself and fell onto the floor where it stayed lifeless water yet again.

The three were silent until Mal, in pure frustration broke the quietness. "WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?"

"A water crown? What? Is Uma gonna be queen of the sea?" Carlos guessed.

"Can't you be a bit more specific?" Jay asked Mal who glared at him in return. "A bit more specific? You don't think I've been trying? Do you know how hard it is to bend pieces of the universe to your will? Forgive me if it tends to be a little vague."

"Well the universe just gave us a water crown for some reason. Maybe it's a symbol?" Carlos tried.

"Well there's no water or crown in here so we might as well leave." Jay stated. Mal nodded in agreement before taking the boys by surprise and looping their arms in hers. She shrugged at both of their confused faces. "This I've wanted to try for a while now. We're done here, take us away from the scene, out by the water is where we need to be!"

And with a puff of green smoke, they were gone.

* * *

Seriously? It was in a museum?

Fairy Godmother was damn lucky that she was the only one who knew how to work the barrier.

"Good day Jefferson." Fairy Godmother stiffly greeted as she and her two passengers walked into the museum. "How is your day going?"

"Better now that you're here ma'am." The security guard blushed while Uma and Harry gagged. Old people flirting...gross. Based off the side eyed glared Uma was giving her, Fairy Godmother had to good sense to make this conversation quick. "If you wouldn't mind, there are a few security breaches in my office that I would like you to scope out please."

"Like what ma'am? Do you have any specifics?"

"Uh..." The headmistress looked nervously at the others who were each at one side of her, "Perhaps you could just do a very thorough look through to make sure that I'm simply being paranoid." Jefferson, being none the wiser, nodded at Fairy Godmother's request. "After you miss."

"Oh, I'll be right with you, there are just a few pieces of...vital history that I would like to show these two." Fairy Godmother gestured to the teenagers and ushered Jefferson out of the room leaving the three of them alone. 

"Only one security guard? How sad." Uma commented as she scoped the place out.

"I'm sure it doesn't matter much to you but Benjamin was on his way to making the security better here." Fairy Godmother responded. Harry had to forcefully ignore the pang in chest at the boy's name. He had no time for this. Finish the plan now, save Ben later.

_Then again, I wouldn't have to save Ben in the first place if it wasn't for-_

"Harry!" Uma called out, "Help me look for the orb."

"Doesn't she know where 'tis?" Harry asked, gesturing to the adult in the room only for her to shake her head. "Believe it or not, I'm not in charge of  _everything._ The museum curator must've put it somewhere they thought was best. Which could be anywhere." She held up her arms motioning to the vast, large building. Both Sea Three members groaned.

This was going to take awhile.

* * *

It was quiet and blue. Salt water burned at their eyes and limbs entangled with each other while trying to rip themselves apart to get to the surface. Carlos was the first one up with Jay and then Mal following, sputtering up water as they tried to breathe.

"I appreciate a cool dip as much as the next person, but how does going swimming help us?" Jay asked. Mal screamed at the sky. "THIS ISN'T WHAT I MEANT!"

"Let's just get back to land." Carlos suggested. Mal started to wave her fingers in the air only for both boys to grab at her hand.

"Let's go back the old fashion way." Carlos said.

"Yeah, last thing we need is to get stuck neck deep in quicksand or something." Jay added.

* * *

From top to bottom the three of them search the museum like there was no tomorrow and for some of them, there wouldn't be.

Yet there was still no orb.

"Uma!" Harry yelled as he ran up the stairs to where Uma was digging through yet another treasure chest. "I've found naught. Are ye sure 'tis even here?"

"It has to be! No way that woman would risk her daughter's life."

Harry looked side by side for the old Fairy. "Where even be she?" Uma's eyes gaped as she shot up from the floor and looked over the bannister. Sure enough, Fairy Godmother was steadily creeping her way to the exit, a few more steps and she would've been free.

Would've.

"One more step and I'll make sure your daughter won't ever walk again." Uma threatened. Fairy Godmother stopped in her tracks, sighing and hanging her head down low as she slowly turned around. Barely concealed away was the orb in her jacket. In her defense, there wasn't much she could do without her wand. 

"Where's the wand?" Uma asked as she made her way over.

"Second floor...near the villain statues." Fairy Godmother answered hesitantly, angrily.

"Passcode?"

"...2-15-....1950." The headmistress grunted out. Uma didn't even need to tell Harry to go get it before he was on it. 

"You won't get away with this." Fairy Godmother promised, "People will come after you." 

Slowly, Uma stepped into Fairy Godmother's space looking up into her eyes with cunning danger etched on her face. "I sure hope so. What fun would this be without an audience?"

"Hope ye two aren't gettin' frisky without me." Harry commented with wry impropriety. Uma ignored him and held out her hand, still staring down the headmistress who hadn't backed down. Uma had to give her props for that. "Give me the wand."

Wordlessly, Harry let the wand fall into Uma's palm. Her face utterly lit up as she held the magical object in her hand. "So much promise, so much chaos all from a little stick." Uma turned her attention back to Fairy Godmother. "My orb."

Fairy Godmother looked at her and then back at the door, as if contemplating making a run for it. When Harry moved behind her, all hope for that escape vanished. Maybe she could still...

As quick as she could, Fairy Godmother reached for her wand. One quick spell and it would buy her time to save herself, Jane, and maybe all of Auradon. Unfortunately, Uma anticipated this and quickly sidestepped out of her grasp, tripping her and leaving Fairy Godmother still upright but stumbling for balance.

Uma tsked at her. "Being naughty won't get you any rewards. The orb. You'll hold the wand soon enough. We still need that spell now don't we?"

Painstakingly slowly, as if each movement pained her, Fairy Godmother handed over the bubble like crystal over to her, internally cursing the sea witch. Uma was smiling, looking at it in pure awe.

"I want to see my daughter." Fairy Godmother interrupted Uma's preening.

"You will." Uma snapped.

"No, now."

"I don't really think you're in a position to be making demands." Uma pointed out.

"I think I am seeing as I'm the only one who can find out what spell to use and how to cast it." Fairy Godmother knew her strengths and if she was going down, she was going to exploit them.

"Fine, if it'll keep you compliant." Uma begrudgingly accepted. She looked into the orb, getting ready for it to do her bidding when a tap on her arm caught her attention.

"What?" She asked the pirate. Harry pulled Uma over to the side to speak with her. "Ye know how to work that thin'?"

She smirked. "Think I can figure it out pretty quickly." She sauntered back to the older Fairy and held the orb before her. "Show me Fairy Godmother's daughter Jane." An image appeared in the orb though it was murky and distorted almost as if you were looking at an image underwater. Despite that, one could clearly see Jane sitting on the floor with her hands chained as she fruitlessly pulled against the iron bars. Based off the broken gasp from Fairy Godmother, Uma was pretty sure that she'd seen enough.

"See? Traumatized but fine. Now go get the spell so that she can stay that way."

* * *

Who would've thought that the pier where the yacht for the cotillion had ben held would be the place where a new day, a new world was born? Harry vividly remembers the day he was watching the event on one of the few working techs on island all too much. The utter joy and excitement when he saw Uma turn into an octopus hybrid and really gave those Auradorians a fright and the crestfallen feeling when he saw Uma back down, leaving the party goers in peace. He even remembers the boiling hot rage and disgust he felt when he saw the so called "good" king kiss Uma's hand and twirl her around like a blasted ballerina.

How times had changed.

Harry often wonders what his past self would think of him now. Would he be disgusted by him second guessing Uma and daring to goes as far as fall for an Auradorian, for the king? Or would he be sadistically pleased that no matter the outcome, he was still on Uma's side.

Harry breathed in the sea salt and sigh. It was the same old thing. Falling into the same old habits and going after the same sense of oblivion. He wondered if he would ever snap out this repetitiveness. It probably didn't matter much now, he's done too much. He will end up doing much worse.

Harry broke out of his thoughts to walk down to the end of the pier where Gil had been patiently waiting this whole time, greeting him with a quick "Aye". Fairy Godmother was led to the very end of the pier. To outside eyes it looked as if they were seconds away from pushing her over. Luckily - or unluckily - for her, that wasn't the case. At least not today.

Uma waved the wand in her hand. "You know what you have to do." 

"I still don't understand. If you wanted quick access to and from the Isle why didn't you just steal a limo and clicker like-" Fairy Godmother had the good sense to stop herself before she dropped any names but the other three already knew who she was talking about.

_Why didn't you just do what Mal and her friends did? Why not copy them?_

Goblins, it was not worth the headache to even attempt to answer that unasked question but Uma seemed to pay no heed or simply not care. Harry was betting on the latter.

"I'm not sure if you're aware but the Isle isn't quite caught up to the technological advances that Auradon has. Electricity is a rarity never mind cars. At what point would we have learned how to drive? What's the point of getting our crew if we're just gonna crash and drown in the progress?" Uma asked sharply only to get no reply. 

"Now," Uma tossed Fairy Godmother her wand, "Portal to the Isle and back. Nothing more, nothing less. Remember your dear daughter Jane."

Fairy Godmother clumsily grasped the wand in her hand. For the magical object that she used and depended on so much, it felt so foreign now. With great reluctance and tears stinging at her eyes, Fairy Godmother just barely found it in her to utter the words...

"B-Bippity Boppity B-Boo!"

In a swirl of golden light, a circular portal formed on the pier and it led directly to Goblin Wharf on the Isle. Uma smiled triumphantly, Harry stayed impassive and Gil looked on with blunt curiosity.

"Gil, go get our crew. Harry and I will stay here to make sure that the good Fairy isn't up to any tricks." Uma ordered and it was when Gil disappeared through the portal that Harry gave himself only a split second to look up at the still clear blue sky and let himself think about something that wasn't undying loyalty to Uma and her plan.

 _May anythin' good or evil help us all..._  

* * *

Mal had no idea how long they had all been swimming for but by the time they reached the shore, they were truly, completely exhausted.  She watched with tired eyes as Carlos practically died on the ground while she and Jay still crawled up the dirt and grass. It was when they too had collapsed on their backs that Jay had allowed himself to ask the question that's been jumping around in his head all day even with all this madness.

"...Earlier when Carlos brought up Ben you looked different...more guarded. A-Anything happen? Do I need to kill someone?" Jay tried adding humor even though he was mostly serious. It hadn't gone unnoticed by Mal who let out a watery laugh. Though the watery part might be because of all that water. Seriously, why does a body of water have to be so large?

"Honestly Jay, I'm fine, it's-" Mal's eyes flashed green, promptly cutting her off and forcing her to abruptly sit up.

"Mal? What's wrong?" Jay inquired before less than gently tapping Carlos to get him up. Mal was breathing heavy, almost to the point of hyperventilating.

"S-Something's w-wrong." She stuttered out, eyes moving side to side with rapid speed.

"What is?" Both boys asked.

"It's like...It's like a shift in the magic..." Mal vaguely answered.

"Mal, what's going on? What do you see?" Jay tried as calm as he could.

"No, no, no, this cannot be, show them doom, let them see what I see." Thanks to Mal's spell, Carlos's and Jay's eyes were taken over by green, forced to see the visions that Mal was witnessing. First it was the pier, it looked like three people were there with a giant...circle? Then it was in the Isle where an army of pirates were marching down the docks and it looked like Gil was leading them to...the circle? Each vision only lasted about a second, two max, but it was enough to kick the VK's into high gear.

"WHAT WAS THAT?" Carlos yelled after he snapped out of the spell, pacing as he freaked out.

"Trouble." Jay's voice was deep, dark and grave.

"Run." Mal whispered.

What?

"What?"  Went the boys. Mal snapped her head towards them and stood up. "Did I stutter? I said run!" 

"Why?!?" They went again.

"Uma's been leading us down this goose chase and taking our friends but did you see that army? That army was meant for us. She knew she couldn't take us down by ourselves which is why she's been distracting us until her calvary arrived and now it's here and you two need to run!"  She panted out.

"You mean  _we_ need to run right?" Carlos corrected. Or at least he hoped he corrected.

Mal shook her head. "We'd be sitting ducks as a group. We can't let her grab us all at once. If we split up there might be a chance that one of us can get away and get help."

"Split up? I've seen enough horror movies to know that splitting up never works!" Jay cried.

"WE DON'T HAVE A CHOICE! NOW RUN!" Mal urged, pushing them to go in different directions. "Split up! Don't go to the same place!"

"WHAT ABOUT BEN?" Carlos asked while he was still barely within earshot.

"HE DOESN'T KNOW ABOUT ANY OF THIS!" Jay added.

"I WILL CALL HIM!" Mal yelled, "NOW STOP STALLING AND RUN! GO NOW!" She screamed and screamed for them to flee until she couldn't see either of them in her eyesight. When she was sure they were gone, she started off jogging before breaking out into a run herself.

It hurt them to run, to not stand their ground and fight. It burned their pride and shredded their egos but they had no choice.

They might not survive if they stayed.

* * *

Uma looked like a kid on Christmas (according to Auradon T.V. because holidays weren't really a thing on the Isle) as her pirate crew marched through the portal ready to fight. As expected, the loud, rowdy and violent gang were curious about their new surroundings but ready to fight. Gil was on the left while Harry stayed silent at Uma's right while keeping an eye on Fairy Godmother. Since she had served her purpose Uma wasted no time taking the wand back from her. Not that it took much. Harry could see pieces of the Fairy's spirt breaking.

 _Am I gonna be able to handle seeing Ben looking like that?_  

"Settle down! Settle down!" Uma yelled over the rambunctious crowd. While there were the odd murmurs here and there, Uma more or less had everyone's attention. She relished the silence for a moment, enjoying the little battles she was winning before speaking.

"Welcome to Auradon boys and girls. I imagine you're all quite anxious to begin so I'll keep things brief. You should all know who your targets are. Find them." Uma turned and shot a dark smile at Harry.

"Let the hunt the begin."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WAIT! WAAIIIIT! 
> 
> Before you attack me with pitchforks and torches I just wanted you to know...
> 
> ...I warned you that I'm evil.
> 
> Okay, fire away.
> 
> By the way, would you guys be interested in some deleted scenes after the story is done?


	21. The Fallen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prisoners can make one hell of an army...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hai!
> 
> I forgot to add a quick little line last chapter. It was near the beginning and it was Harry telling Chad what "ye" meant. It's literally a single line that I forgot to add.
> 
> It's short and it gets on my nerves a little bit. But it was either this chapter be short or the next one and no one wants a short final chapter...I think.
> 
> ENJOY!

Jay was the first one to get caught. Uma's crew caught him at an overpass near the main road.

He partially blames himself for not having a proper escape strategy but in his defense he didn't have much warning before him. Still, even as he found himself surrounded he would get every one of those sea bastards his best. Punches went flying, kicks were landing but with all of Jay's brutal hits and evasive maneuvers he was no match against seven who were all armed with swords and other various weapons. They attacked him, they incapacitated him, they forced him to the ground.

He still remembers screaming in the dirt as they chained him.

* * *

Carlos was the second.

Due to going the opposite direction of Jay, the smaller boy found himself wandering through the forest both looking for somewhere to hide and somewhere to escape to. Luckily for him, this wasn't Carlos's first time in one of the Auradon forests. He had the home advantage. Unfortunately, the team that Uma had sic on him were relentless, not even trying to be subtle about hunting him like a wild animal. Hearing the many footsteps of Uma's followers, Carlos found himself scurrying up a tree, very reminiscent of when he tried to hide from Dude. Except this time instead of running from an animal he'd yet to understand, he was hiding for his life. Carlos's heart broke a bit for Dude but he was a smart dog, he knew how to handle himself. Carlos was sure of it.

With his new resolve, Carlos climbed a little higher.

He watched from the semi safety of the trees as multiple pirates passed him, scanning the bushes for Cruella's boy.The leaves of the tree moved him but his bright red, white and black colors might've given him away. He didn't dare move. He barely let himself breathe.

Which is why is stumped him as to how they found him. One minute he was peeking over a branch in silence, the next he was being forcibly dragged to ground., falling eight feet. It's a wonder he didn't break anything. The feeling of being poke and prodded with sharpened swords seared into his brain.

He remembers whimpering like a lost puppy as they dragged him down.

* * *

Mal ran down the beach, feet sinking in the sand. She cursed herself for almost always wearing her chunky boots. They hardly acted as running wear. She blamed Evie's influence and this cursed sand for being so clingy. She had no idea what happened to Jay and Carlos and could only hope that they were okay. Or at least as close to okay that was possible in this situation.

She needed an exit plan. Mal looked up at the sky, she could always fly away but the sound of dragon wings flapping wasn't exactly inconspicuous. Not to mention what if they tried to shoot her down? She's only flown twice and both were beyond her control, when her mind and body were so overcome with emotion that it just transformed itself. Don't get her wrong, she was terrified but apparently fear wasn't enough to bring the flying serpent out.

The purple haired girl was still going over her possible options when she spied a figure in front of her. Then that figure turned to two, then four, maybe eight? Shit. Halting in her tracks, Mal immediately spun around heading for the opposite end of the beach. While running she pulled off her backpack and searched for her phone only to accidentally pull out Lonnie's.

 _"It'll have to do."_ Mal thought, _"Gotta warn Ben. Gotta warn everybody."_ Frantically, she pressed at the home button and the power button, willing the device to turn on only for it to stay dead.

Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit.

Wait a second, what was that spell her mother once told her? Something about a tongue and a baby maybe?

"L-Lizard's tongue and demon's spawn, m-make this blasted thing turn on!" She aimed her finger at the phone praying it would work. To her scarce luck it did and immediately she went to the contacts and dialed Ben's number.

Voicemail. Dammit!

Mal only got out a few words before she was tackled by behind, phone flying out of her hand. Instinctively, she used her small frame to her advantage to shimmy out from under her attacker before kicking him in the face. As she stood another pirate lunged for her but she dodged her, swiftly hitting the female pirate with her backpack, darkly grinning at the sight of blood.

_See? I knew studding my backpack was a good idea._

Ready to flee, Mal tried to run but found four more pirates in front of her and three behind her. Not to mention the two others that she had just taken down only moments before were standing tall. Eyes glowing and fists clenched, Mal was ready to fight.

Defensive spells, defensive spells, what are some defensive spells?

Sadly, she couldn't waste another moment thinking before a pirate jumped her to distract her while another one sword whipped her in the back of her head sending her down. Despite the dizziness and the steadily approaching headache, she could vaguely feel herself being dragged. They pushed her to the ground, into the wet sand and cold water, effectively muting her cries.

She still remembers how her eyes burned.

* * *

Ben sat on his backside on his bed, oblivious to anything beyond his bedroom. He wondered about his friends. He'd hardly seen any of them today. Grunting, Ben sat up and scanned his room for no particular reason. It was the same old, same old, but today it felt particularly empty. He fell back on his bed, content to lay there in self pity. The only reason he turned his neck was to simply get more comfortable. He had no idea that he would see the edges of Harry's pirate hat peeking out from behind his blanket on the floor. Curiously, he got up and leaned down to pick up the hat. It was old and the frayed feather going as far as to fall off in his hand. Some of the black was so worn out that it looked gray. Even the feather that sat there in his hand drooped pathetically as if it longed for it's original owner. Ben could relate; he missed him too.

He missed everybody.

A ping went off, interrupting the reflecting silence that Ben was drowning in. He casually took out his phone, absentmindedly placing the feather in his pocket, to see that he had a missed call from Lonnie. Whoops, he must've forgotten to turn off the silence after school was over. He quickly put the phone to his ear eager to hear someone especially after...everything. Except instead of hearing the voice of his childhood friend, he heard the frantic panting of Mal who was trying to tell him something.

"BEN! LISTEN TO ME! I-IT'S NOT SAFE, UMA'S PIRATES ARE COMING! WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT TRUST-" And just like that, the message cut off. Leaving Ben confused, lost and scrambling for answers. But he didn't have to wonder long because seconds later his bedroom door was being broken down and what looked like tens of pirates invading his room leaving him with no time to understand what was happening, never mind defend himself, dropping Harry's hat as the pirates attacked.

He still remembers howling as he went down.

* * *

He wakes up on a dirt floor in chains with very little light. They all wake up that way. He hears muffled voices as he snaps out of his forced unconsciousness. The grogginess makes Ben feel like he's been drugged but it slowly fades out.

"Look who's finally awake. Rise and shine sleeping beauty." Fully conscious or not, Ben knows that sarcastic tone of voice anywhere. It was Jay. Jay, who sat diagonal of him a couple cells away  wearing chains of his own.

Thanks to the Beast gene, Ben's newly enhanced vision helped him see the angry red lines that decorated Jay's wrists. Looks like he tried to break free and failed. Ben looked around as far as he could. Mal sat in the cell next to him with Carlos next to Jay. Which was weird seeing as there were two empty cells in front of him and Mal.

"Jesus. Who else is here?"

Jay answered since he could see just about everybody. "Our pirate buddies have been busy. They pretty much got the whole pack. Evie's near the back with Doug across from her but that's not it. Say hello to Chad, who's at the far end. Jane who's next to Evie and Lonnie who's coincidentally, right in front of me. It's like a big ole sleepover and we've already made friendship bracelets." Jay said as he jingled his chains, making Ben wince.

He looked at his hands, or more accurately, the chains that bound him. They weren't even chains, they were manacles, like from the medieval times. Where do you even get these? But maybe since they're old he could use his newfound strength to break them. Except just pulling a little made them tighten making Ben just sightly more than a little uncomfortable.

Jay grimaced, "Yeah, probably should've told you about that. Try to break free and the chains tighten." He showed his own bloody wrists, "I obviously didn't get the memo."

"They're spelled." Mal added, speaking for the first time. Ben looked at Mal through the bars trying to decipher why she was wet but mostly concerned if she was okay. He asked so. Mal shrugged, "Who wouldn't wanna get trapped in a dungeon? Totally checking it off my prisoner bucket list."

Before Ben could respond, Carlos took over asking Ben a question, "Ben, do you know what this place is? Where we are?" Ben looked around at the filthy walls, going as far to scan the ceiling for any type of clue but he's never seen anything like this.

"...I have no idea."

"Which means that you probably don't know any way out of here." Carlos said dejectedly, flopping onto the floor.

"We have to make a plan guys!" Evie called out, "I have no idea how long I've been here and it's starting to get to me."

"You've been here for less than a day." Mal answered, "I think. That was before we got here. Right now, I don't even know if it's the same day."

"Chad, how'd you get here?" Carlos randomly asked.

Chad was farthest down so his voice came off like a bit of an echo. "I don't even know! One second I'm on my phone playing Furious Pumpkins the next Harry is in the room holding me in a choke hold."

At the sound of Harry's name, Ben's heart lurched. Harry was behind all this? No, there had to be some type of explanation. This was Auradon, almost anything was possible. Maybe he's been forced against his will, or it's a spell, or something because there was no way that he could spend all this time with him and not notice Harry's intentions. There's no way that the time spent together meant nothing, that all the laughs were part of some plot, that all the...all the other stuff...were meaningless to Harry.

Was there?

He could feel eyes on him and turned his head to see Mal staring at him, sorrow in her eyes. She nodded, as if to answer his unasked question. Ben closed his eyes, feeling them burn not with blue brightness, but clear tears.

"We're gonna die in here." Jane sputtered out, crying with her words. Carlos longed to comfort her going as far as impulsively pulling at his chains only for them to tighten leaving him moaning in pain.

"They couldn't even give us beds or chairs or something? Look at us! We're literally rolling around in dirt." Lonnie said, clearly very annoyed with her treatment as a prisoner. It oddly made Ben snort in laughter for a quick second.

"So how do we get out of here?" Doug asked.

"You don't." A voice said from down the hall.  As the footsteps approached the voice revealed itself to be Gil, holding a chained, unconscious Audrey in tow.

"AUDREY!" Chad cried out, pulling at his chains and cell bars despite the pain it caused him. "So help me if you hurt her-"

"She's fine." Gil interrupted, not unkindly. Ben took note of how gentle Gil was as he laid her a cell, opposite of Chad, "Pretty much passed out the minute she saw me with chains."

"So what's the big plan Legume?" Jay called out, scorn dripping in his tone, "Uma keeps us down here like trophies while she destroys everything holy under the sun?"

Gil let out a low chuckled that sounded more pained than joyous. He walked to end ready to leave before he spoke, not even bothering to turn around.

"...You wish."

* * *

Harry stood at the alter in the middle of the cathedral right next to the throne. It was baffling to think that just a few feet below the surface were where so many people resided.

Where Ben resided.

It wasn't an easy choice. It had made him nauseous to even have to think of making a decision but he had no choice. Uma was going to make an example out of Ben, that was simply unavoidable. He was the king, he was the son of the former king who imprisoned them all on the Isle in the first place. In Uma's eyes, you would pay for the sins of the father...and whatever else she could think of. He could've told Ben to run but that would raised more questions instead of inspiring action. Plus, there was no way that Ben would leave his friends or the nation in peril. He rather stand and fight, Harry knew it. It made him proud and pissed. He more than appreciated it but also hated that side of Ben sometimes. He also knew that standing and fighting would be how Ben would fall so that option was out. What else was there? Tell him the plan? That was a one way street to Uma executing him in a truly gruesome, Isle-like style. Maybe turn him into fish bait and wring him on a hook. Probably his hook.

Hell no to that idea.

That left one idea left. Better to survive as a prisoner temporarily than be dead forever. That was one of the few universal rules on the Isle and Harry would carry that with him wherever he went. The pain in his chest hurt like a bitch, and burned everything in there to ash but it was worth it if Ben lived.

Their relationship would die but Ben would live.

Fairy Godmother had been taken to a different room and placed under lock and key for future use and yes, the irony about that was made abundantly clear. All around him, pirates scurried from one end to another, frantically making things right according to Uma's demands.

 _"So eager to please."_ Harry thought. Then again, he was no different. He wasn't exactly defying Uma at the moment now was he. The sight of Gil's face in front of him startled Harry which shows just how engrossed in thought he was.

"Be it done?" Harry asked, referring to that goddamn dungeon. If he never saw that place again it would be too soon. Gil nodded and Harry just barely refrained from asking how Ben was. Gil was his best mate but he had no idea what side he'd lean on. Harry would like to think that it's his side but some days he wasn't so sure.

"You ready for the big night?" Gil blandly asked, clearly just trying to make conversation. This plan had taken its toll on all of them but none more so than Gil because for whatever cosmic reason, Gil was just a little bit less fucked up than the rest of them. A little bit more innocent.

"I be ready to get this all over 'n done wit'."

* * *

The ten of them- as far as they knew it was just them- stayed in their cells for who knows how long. There were buckets for bathroom business, slop to eat and water to drink but they never ever left the cells. It was making quite a few of them stir crazy.

"LET ME OUT OF HERE!" Chad screamed in anguish, holding his head in his arms, "...I want my mom. Where's Fairy Godmother? "

"This...is inhumane. Staying here can't be healthy." Audrey commented which caused Carlos to snort. "No shit."

Ben raised a dull eyebrow in response. Beast gene or not, even his actions have slowed. "It's an old prisoner tactic. Keep them in the dark, give them next to nothing and in a matter of time they'll be putty in your hands." Carlos explained, staring off into space. Carlos was right. Anytime the guards would come in here they wouldn't say a word. The pirates didn't give them food on a regular basis or change the buckets or give them water on any type of schedule. The only indication of time passing was the few torches that were up burning away. The average candle can last about five to nine hours depending on the wick. These torches weren't small so every time they were changed everyone couldn't help but wonder how long they were in here once more.

It was your average day (or night because who the fuck knew at this point) and Ben was laying on his back counting bugs on the ceiling when Carlos starting using his small metal cup that was used to water to bang across the rusted bars. He did it for a few minutes until Evie, who had been mostly mute this whole time, kindly asked him to shut up.

"So," Jay started, leaning on his palm utterly bored, "What up?"

Maybe it was a testament to how testy and cagey everyone was getting but as soon as Jay said the words most of them threw their metal cups at their respective bars. Jay was hardly effected. "Excuse me for trying to be polite."

For moments more the entirety of the dungeon stayed silent having no words to fill the empty spaces. All of them were either lying down or on their side or simply sitting because standing around waiting got tiring. Not to mention that chains are heavy.

"...I...have...a question." Chad spoke at nothing. Doug being closest responded, "Which is?"

"How come Mal and Ben aren't in front of each other?" He asked.

"...What does that have to do with...anything?" Doug asked. Out of all the thing to be worried about, seating charts were on Chad's mind.

Chad, feeling the need to explain himself, sat up. "Look, all of the known couples are across from each other except Mal and Ben." Chad point out. He was right. He and Audrey faced each other and so did Jane and Carlos and Evie and Doug and even Lonnie and Jay and those two weren't even a couple. Everybody except Mal and Ben, the most popular couple in the country. Ben felt his face grow hot.

"He's right." Jay admitted, "Never thought I'd say that."

How anybody could see down the long corridor of cells was beyond Ben's comprehension but in his defense, falling for someone only to have said someone supposedly turn their back on you, kind of takes a toll on the mind, heart and whatever else was aching inside Ben. "Maybe the pirates just put them there." Audrey started, "They don't seem to be the sort who have a high intelligence."

"...She ain't wrong." Carlos said. Evie shook her head despite the darkness covering most of her face. "No, it's too deliberate. Everything so far has been carefully planned. Uma wouldn't choose now to get lazy."

"Then why put them next to each other like that?" Jane meekly asked. Ben's mouth was moving before his brain even decide if it wanted to speak or not.

"To make us uncomfortable."

A beat.

"...Why would being next to each other make you uncomfortable?" Carlos asked, fully paying attention now.

"You guys are only together most of the time so what makes now different?" Audrey questioned. Ben risked a side glance at Mal. Most of her hair was covering her face but he could tell that she was looking back. Telling the rest of their friends would be her choice. How and when was completely up to Mal. He owed her that much at least. All of them sat in silence for more than a few moments and Ben was beginning to think that Mal wouldn't say anything until he heard her speak up. "Because...Ben and I broke up."

Ben involuntary winced. Breaking up was a special kind of painful but hearing it confirmed almost hurt more. Not to say that it ever stopped hurting in the first place but, once again, quite a lot has happened in less than twenty-four hours.

Twenty-four hours.

Huh.

It took former King Beast, his father, about two decades (give or take a few years) to build a united kingdom and round up all the villains, both formerly dead and live, and place them in isolation on a floating prison. It took Ben over sixteen years (again, give a take a few years) to learn how to rule said kingdom and then actually doing the task along with that pesky proclamation he stressed about until an ingenious and more than slightly mad idea came to him.

All in all, that's almost half a century spent on making Auradon a great country to hopefully led by great rulers and it was all destroyed in less than twenty-four hours.

Ben didn't know if he wanted to cry or laugh.

He supposed that he would be doing both sooner rather than later. He must've blacked out during his grand epiphany it was the sound of vicious screaming and chains rattling that snapped Ben out of his head. Of course, it was Jay.

"That hooked, red leathered, sea salt smelling BASTARD!" Jay yelled to the ceiling, as if that was a way for Harry to hear his words from beyond this basement of horrors. The former thief was pacing and flailing around in his anger going as far as to shaking the bars which led to the manacles tightening on his wrist. Ben's heart went out to the boy kneeling on the floor in pain. Especially as the sight of purple, black and blue bruises forming anew.

"Jesus Jay, are you okay? You have to-"

"STOP!" Jay interrupted, glaring at Ben on his knees through his hair, "I am trying...really hard to not be mad you but you talking isn't going to help." Wisely, Ben went back to being quiet because at the moment with Jay covered in dirt and blood with anger and hate in his eyes, Ben was reminded that while these were his friends (hopefully, still) they grew up much more different than he did and that side was starting to show a little bit.

"It's not Ben's fault!" Lonnie defended springing to her feet.

"He's not blameless either. Who was the one who wanted to spring the sea psychos from the Isle hmm?" Jay snapped. Lonnie rolled her eyes, "In case you've forgotten that was Mal's idea."

"HEY! She was only trying to help Ben who knew squat about the Isle kids!" Evie broke in. Interestingly enough, it triggered Audrey to start speaking. "Well if you guys are such experts then why did you agree to bringing people hell bent on burning us to the ground?!"

Carlos let out a dry bitter laugh, "Your parents imprisoned us on the Isle. EVERYONE wants to burn you to the ground!"

"Funny how you mention everyone." Audrey started, "Especially when it was your core four train wreck that started this whole mess to begin with!"

"Forgive us if we didn't quite relate to the princes and princesses who lived in glass towers while we lived under rot." Evie spat out sarcastically. "Really? So spelling Ben, manipulating Jane and trying to steal the wand was because you felt left out?" Audrey asked even though it wasn't really a question.

"Don't act so high and mighty." Mal glared, "You were the one who had to put everyone down in order to make yourself feel better. Even your own boyfriend!"

"At least I never had to spell him to date him."

"No, you just had mommy and daddy make a little arrangement only to fuck off to Chad when things weren't going your way!"

"Why doesn't everybody just calm down?" Doug tried. "Why?" Evie asked, "Surely you have an opinion." She turned towards Jane was staring into her lap silently, "What about you Jane? You've been awfully quiet."

"Leave Jane alone." Lonnie ordered. Evie snorted. Audrey rolled her eyes, "It's a wonder how someone like Jane is dating someone like you people."

"Let's not forget that dear Janey there was the one who stole the wand in the first place!" Jay said in the semi-defence of Carlos. "Maybe they're more alike than you think. Then again how can you think with all that privilege filling up your head?"

"Don't act you know me street rat." Audrey snarled and if things were bad before, everything just doubled now. Almost everyone with screaming at each other with Audrey, Mal, Jay and Lonnie at the lead with inputs from Carlos and Evie now and then. Almost every piece of dirty laundry was aired out in front of them. From the minute that the VK's stepped onto Auradon land to getting locked up in this hell hole. Worst of all, Ben didn't even know what to do other than sit there in his own self pity and misery because when it came down to it, everything was his fault. He encouraged his friends to go to the Isle. He made the deal with Uma. He got careless and fell for Harry. He fell for Harry...who, apparently, never really fell for him and that was the thing that doomed them all.

_What had he done?_

"HEY!" A voiced bellowed out, gaining everyone's attention. To a great surprise it was Chad who had been shockingly quiet during all of this as if he were drinking in all the informational hate that was being spewed out. "DON'T YOU SEE WHAT'S GOING ON? IT'S PROBABLY PART OF THAT SEA WITCH'S GRAND PLAN! WE'RE GOING CRAZY DOWN HERE, DRIVING EACH OTHER UP THE WALL! GOD FORBID SHE LETS US OUR RIGHT NOW, WE'D ALL BE READY TO KILL EACH OTHER! POINT OF THE MATTER IS THAT WE WERE ALL WRONG! SOME WAY OR ANOTHER, WE MESSED UP!" Chad went though each person individually, sharing his personal thoughts on the matter.

"I shouldn't have been such an asshole to some of you guys when you first got here but I was confused, and nervous and scared. I assumed you were your parents. Thank goodness you're not. Doug, you finally got a girlfriend. Congrats. Pay lots of attention to her but also pay attention to the fact that there might watching every move you make! Jane, you're like a little sister to me. Whatever you need, I'm there...but you can't go stealing magical artifacts even though a part of me agrees that a bad hairdo might be worth it. Carlos, Jay and Evie, I have no idea what the worst you've done on the Isle is but I do know that the worst thing you've done yet is agree to let Uma come here even though you knew that she'd only reek havoc. That goes for you too Lonnie. Audrey, you know I care about you but this animosity for Mal has gotta stop. Or a least simmer down for the moment because we have _way_ bigger fish to fry. Mal, whatever the hell you did to piss Uma off so much, I wish you hadn't because from what I've heard, she's after us because she's after you. And Ben, Ben you've been my buddy since we've been in diapers. You are so trusting and while I know I haven't been the...most supportive of your proclamation, what did you think would happen if you brought more villain kids here? I get it, you want to give them a second chance, a better life, but the sworn enemy of your recently ex-girlfriend? And then to fall for her best mate? A hook wielding lunatic? Really? But then again, I can't fault you for that. He is a looker and he was kind of becoming my friend too. At least so I thought."

"...We gotta get out of here." Chad continued, "And we need everyone here to do it. We can't escape and go kick ass if we're all trying to kill each other now can we?"

Stunned everyone stood in their respective cages in silence, reflecting on past actions. Who would've thought that Chad, of all people, would be the voice of reason?

"Put in my place by Chad. The world really is ending." Jay half joked. Ben on the other hand, wasn't so surprised. Yes, Chad was arrogant, selfish, lazy, greedy, slightly sexist and so much more but he had one hell of a mother who got a few things right.

"So we all fucked up and now it's time to fix it...how?" Carlos asked. It was then that a malicious smile spread on Mal's face. A look that promise nothing but mischief and mayhem. "Listen up young bucks...I think I have a plan."

* * *

Never before had sitting in a dark, dinky cage felt so promising.

Each of the inmates had to forcibly fight the urge to squirm and move around in anticipation of enacting their ~~revenge~~ scheme in order to get out of this prison and get back at Uma. All they needed was one little pirate.

After sitting in the barely lit dark for an unknown amount of time, one by one, the inmates fought the urge to fall asleep. They had to stay awake, watchful for the sake of their plan but unfortunately each one of them fell victim to their slumber. Bodies exhausted despite the lack of movement in the cages.

Except Ben who had been filled with nervous energy since the moment he woke up in this rotten prison now. Call it fear that if he fell asleep then they'd miss their chance or restlessness because of the suppressed energy from the beast gene (these chains do _a lot_ more than tighten the space on your wrists) or guilt for his part the great pirate takeover.

Not to mention the fact that his heart is still in jagged pieces over Harry. A part of him still has hope that there is some greater thing going on, even a misunderstanding that they've all yet to...understand. That's the part of him that keeps him up most the of time.

It's with him awake and sitting in the dark that he feels something soft in one of the jacket pockets he can reach while being bound. Toying around with the movements, he eventually fishes the unknown item out of his pocket and almost laughs in a manic glee when he sees what it was. The only reason he refrains is because he knows that his friends need their strength. He pushes himself to the far wall and leans back on it. Eyes closed as he quietly, emptily, chuckles at himself.

It's the feather. The damn feather from that damn hat from that damn pirate.

Dammit Harry.

He crumpled the small white feather in his hand. Squeezing so hard he thought he might bleed. Opening his fist, he looked at the crumpled feather, tarnished but still there. Ben supposes he should respect that. If there's any sanity in respecting a feather. He does often wonder if he's started to lose his mind down here.

It baffles him how something that can symbolize freedom and hope and flight like a feather can belong to someone who probably takes pleasure in shooting those poor, dumb birds down. When he realizes that he's the poor, dumb bird in this scenario Ben can't help the humorless, obnoxious snort that escapes him. Everybody remains asleep though.

It's his own fault for forgetting who Harry is and where he grew up. He's heard the tales, rumors and the stories. If Ben hadn't seen Harry for himself he would've thought that the pirate boy was simply a phantom to scare even Isle children into behaving a least a little bit. Then again, it could also be flipped as inspiration to act as wicked as Hook's son himself.

The wildness, the manic glee. The boy who wears a hook not to help himself but to maim others. The one who rides the waves seeking to terrorize everything and everyone on shore. The lunatic boy who threw you overboard as shark bait just for the hell of it. Armed with nothing but insanity in his eyes and an overactive imagination, the one who was feared by many.

Yes, Ben's heard the tales, rumors and the stories but that was nothing in comparison to what he saw.

He saw a boy who yes, was wild, but had a joy for sword fighting, being able to outsmart most (Lonnie might disagree) of his enemies relying only on himself and his sword. The boy who wears a hook as not a help, but a reminder as who he could be, who he wants to be. The one who rides the waves seeking adventure and maybe a little pillaging every now and then. The over protective first mate who would turn you over to the sharks if you even dared thought about hurting his crew. Armed with nothing but insanity in his eyes and an overactive imagination, the one who single handedly undid the king himself.

It was his own fault for not taking all good stuff that came from being with Harry without more than a few grains of salt. Now, he was paying for it. Actually, it wasn't just him.

_Why'd you do this Harry?_

Now, Ben was completely talking to himself which is why he almost had a mini heart attack when he saw Harry right in front of him. Leaning on the cage equipped with his red jacket and silver hook (no hat mind you) was Harry himself.

Except it wasn't.

Because if was the real Harry than someone would've heard the doors opening and Ben wouldn't be the only one awake right now. Regardless of what he knew, the figment of his imagination didn't stop Ben from venting out his frustrations.

"You...bastard. Why'd you do this?" The phantom pirate stayed silent.

"You came to my home, made me think that you were my friend maybe even more than my friend only so you could do this?" Ben whisper asked, gesturing to the prison around them. "Why'd you do this?"

The phantom pirate tilted it's head in confusion as if he didn't understand why Ben was upset. Or maybe it didn't care. Who knew if the real one did. Real or not, Ben was ready to lay into it, just letting it/him know just how much pain and anguish he'd managed to cause in such a relatively short amount of time. Except in under two seconds, the phantom pirate started to walk away. Ben scrambled up to his feet and practically threw himself at the bars. He vaguely wonders how bad his psyche must be if he feels so much pain at the thought of Harry leaving (even though this one is fake) yet again. Calling out to the phantom, he doesn't know how loud he's being. He doesn't care. To his relief, the phantom stops but doesn't turn around.

"Why?" Ben can't quite help it if his voice breaks a little bit. After what feels like an eternity, phantom pirate finally turns around to look at Ben. It's eyes are neither gloating or sorrowful but simply there. Ben doesn't expect it to speak but it does shrug.

"Why not?" It says before disappearing in the darkness and leaving Ben to collapse in the dirt.

* * *

Ben doesn't know how long he sits there on the floor. Then again, he wasn't keeping that great a track of time in the first place. It was a good thing that Ben was awake because the minute his ears picked up on the rusted doors cracking open was when he gently woke up Mal who, with his help, proceeded to wake up everybody else before their visitor came down. It was an average pirate but what mattered wasn't so much the pirate himself but more what he had one him. More specifically, the keys. 

As expected, the pirate was here on grunt work, carrying trays of the ever delicious, very suspicious, slop that they were subjugated to eat on a presumably semi-daily basis. As the nameless pirate made his way down to the end of the line, Audrey- who had been lying in wait- made her move.

"Excuse me. Hey, buddy." She called out, trying to get the pirate to turn around. According to Mal, Islers prayed on the weak so Audrey had stayed bent over on her knees hoping to look as feeble as possible. "I know you can hear me. HEY!" The pirate paid her no attention, turning to leave she called out to him again. "I have money! I can give you things just name your price!"

The pirate stopped and everybody fought to hide their smile. It didn't matter who you were loyal to, greed had a tendency to run deep in the Isle. The pirate made his way back to Audrey, looking down at the imprisoned princess in contempt...and something else that shouldn't be said in front of children. Just because Islers hated Auradorians didn't mean that a lot of them didn't have certain...urges. Audrey would just have to use that to her advantage.

Slowly, she stood up, leaning against the bars and making sure that a bit of her chest was pressed against it. If the lowered look was any indication, Audrey would say that she had the pirate's attention. "Look, my family, we have money, jewelry, castles, anything you want. Just name your price and let me go." She pleaded. The look on the pirates's face was low and dirty. Promising to do rotten things to the little princess. To those who were closest, it made their bloods boil. Friends with Audrey or not, you don't mess with fellow inmates. Or at least you shouldn't. Inmate rules. Alas, they all had to have faith that Audrey could handle herself.

"Mister, I don't know who you think you are but _I_ am not that kind of girl." Audrey replied back, stumbling between the balance of alluring and revulsion.

"I don't care wha' kind o' lass ye be." The pirate said, stepping up to the gate. Audrey had to fight the instinct to step back. If this was going to work, she had to stay put. "You might not...but he does." Audrey stated quickly. She wished she could enjoy the confused expression on the disgusting pirate's face before she kicked him in the balls. In the little time that they had, Mal and Evie had taught her how hard she needed to kick, with what part of her foot and most importantly,  _where_ to kick because it was apparently very easy to miss a man's groin.

As a the pirate doubled over in pain, Audrey used her remaining strength to push the pirate backwards towards Chad. Doing so meant pulling her restraints but the pain would be worth it. Stretching his arm, Chad reached through the gate and clung onto the back of the pirate's vest, almost missing him. After getting a steady enough grip, he yanked him backwards onto the metal gate. Pulling the pirate meant pulling the chains so Chad was only able to get four knocks to the head in before the two of them fell to the floor.

Lucky for all of them, the four knocks were more than enough because the pirate was out on the floor, sporting nasty gashes on the back of his head.

"Are you two okay?" Mal asked. Audrey and Chad grunted out an 'okay' with a nod.

"Chad, do you think you have enough strength to search his body?" Carlos asked. Nodding again, Chad crawled as close to his gate as he could, reaching for the pirate. On his own, Chad could only barely cusp one of the pirate's bracelets. It wasn't nearly enough grip to pull him over. Doug came to the rescue by forcing his limbs to stretch more than they could in order to grab one of the pirate's legs and sort of shift him towards Chad. It wasn't much movement but it was enough to get Chad to his wrists to to yank him over. Now, on his knees, Chad searched the unconscious body while everybody waited in anticipation and baited breath. A large smile spread over Chad's face when he felt something in one of the back ripped pockets. Slowly, he pulled out a ring of keys. "Looks like we hit the jackpot."

The whole gang of them cried in joy and relief. Never had they thought they be so happy to see a set of keys!

"Don't start celebrating yet, we gotta make sure they work first." Evie reminded. So they watched as Chad tried out each key, trying to unlock his chains. They almost lost hope when Chad was down to the last key with no signs of progress. That was until the manacles clicked open and fell to the ground with an loud and satisfying thud.

"YES!" Chad shouted and used the same key to unlock his own gate. It looks like the design was that the key matched both the chains and bars you were locked in. Starting with Audrey, Chad systematically went down the cages, freeing each of them. The lot of them practically sprung from their cages, happy to stretch and move. They went as far as to high five each other or even give hugs. All past grievances forgotten. At least for now.

Like Chad said, they had bigger fish to fry.

"Listen up!" Mal called out, "We don't have long. Someone's bound to notice the missing pirate soon. We gotta move." She grabbed the end of one of the torches on the wall. Turning back at the very dirty but very determined group assembled in front of her.

"Let's go and rock the boat shall we?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more left. Are you ready?
> 
> SNEEK PEAK:
> 
> "So...we're not talking about it?" Gil asked. The two of them were in some random room in the church looking for decorations for Uma's big day. Harry hadn't sparked any conversation nor had he hinted that he wanted to so Gil talking out of nowhere was a bit of a surprise. Except not by much because it was Gil.
> 
> It was the other thing he would soon say that surprised Harry.
> 
> "Talk about wha'?" Harry asked, bending down to look through some old boxes.
> 
> "That fact that we're about to burn down everything holy under the sun." Gil started. Harry snorted. "Dunno if ye've been payin' attention Gil but burnin' down holy things be kind of me specialty." He said, drawing out the syllables in speciality. "That 'n.." He raised his hook a bit. Let the threat speak for itself.
> 
> "Yeah but we've never hurt anyone like..."
> 
> "Like who?"
> 
> "Like Ben."
> 
> Harry froze.
> 
> "You know, the guy who you've been hanging out with so much the past few months. The guy you actually care about, maybe even lo-"  
> Harry whipped around, placing the blunt part of his hook under Gil's chin. "Maybe even wha'?"
> 
> "I've spent the last few months watching people under Uma's orders. It was mostly VK's but not only them. If you look closely, you notice some things."
> 
> Harry turned the hook under Gil's chin a bit but Gil seemed undisturbed. Going as far as to placing his own hand on the hook and gently pushing it away. "So we're not talking about it?"
> 
> Harry glowered at the other boy who had the good sense to gulp and show just a hint of fear. Annoyed and unsatisfied, Harry left the room to find some lackey he could terrorize. Sometimes he really hated it when Gil used that eggs for brain of his. Harry didn't speak aloud as he walked away but that didn't stop him from thinking.
> 
> "No, we're not." He thought.


	22. A Pirate's Word and A Pixie's Promise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bai?

They had a plan. Of course the recently freed prisoners had a plan. The only problem was that is was a very stupid plan. Heavy emphasis on the word stupid.

"Oh my God. We're gonna die." Audrey moaned after she heard it, looking around fruitlessly for any other idea.

Mal scoffed, "Please Audrey, can you enlighten us with something better?"

Audrey was quiet for a moment, you could almost hear the pout in her answer. "No, but that doesn't make this one a good plan."

"There are no good ideas." Evie stated, "Not today at least. What we do have is a sea witch pirate who's out of her mind."

"In other words: it's time to move people." Jay rephrased. Gathering their will and courage, the recently freed inmates tried to mentally prepare for the undoubtedly rough waters ahead. "Someone needs to put our friend in one of the cages so he isn't a future problem." Mal said, motioning over to the still unconscious pirate on the floor. Wordlessly, Ben and Carlos teamed up to drag the pirate into one of the cages that was the farthest away. Inside, Carlos grabbed Chad's old manacles, slipping them onto the unknowing pirate.

"Let's see how you like being restrained." Carlos whispered to him before leaving. Ben followed, shutting the bar doors and locking them. 

"Before we leave, what do we do with these?" Ben asked the group, holding up all the keys to the cells.

"Chances are that Uma made copies so we better keep that pair on us." Mal mentioned. Ben tossed to the keys to Jay with a 'heads up'. Jay raised his an eyebrow. "You trusting the keys with a thief?" 

Ben shrugged, "You know all the tricks to look out for." He answered before tentatively patting him on the shoulder. Ben lingered long enough to see a small smirk on Jay's face. It almost made Ben want to jump up and down in happiness. Things weren't great right now but it doesn't mean that it'll stay this way forever.

"Can we go over the plan one more time?" Lonnie asked. "No offense, but it's already kind of shitty. Last thing we need is one of us messing up and making our lives even harder."

Mal raised up the hand that wasn't hold the torch in good gesture. "None taken. The plan is simple...ish."

_"First and foremost, we get the hell out of here. Which sounds obvious but keep in mind that no one here really knows where we are except for the fact that we're underground. Once we get topside we'll have to ambush some pirates."_

The ten of them watched in amazement as a wall opened into one of the churches basements, possibly the lower level archives or library. Stepping out of it, they watched as the wall closed and turned into a blank, dull wall once again.

"How did any of you not know that this was here?" Carlos asked the native Auradorians. All six of them shrugged. "Doesn't matter. Let's go." Evie said. As quietly and stealthily as they could, the group of them made their way through the halls in search of pirates to ambush.

"Of course when we first escape instead of hiding from the people who kidnapped us, we're going straight to them!" Audrey whisper screamed only to get several shushes. Turns out, they wouldn't have to search much longer because two pirates were turning the corner. Each of them just barely had enough time to hide behind a statue or column. The two pirates walked down the halls, taking their time, oblivious to the escapees. Hiding behind a column on the right, Lonnie peeked across trying to get Jay's attention. Jay, who was right in front of her and wasn't paying any attention to her. If she kept on handwaving the pirates would notice and wonder what a very unstable mime was hiding behind a column. Luckily he finally noticed.

Without saying anything to give away her location, Lonnie gestured for him and her to take down the two pirates. Jay looked hesitant, shaking his head. When the two pirates were far enough down the hall, Lonnie ran across to Jay as quietly as she could.

"What do you mean no?! This is our chance!" Lonnie said, hitting him in the arm. "Have you forgotten that they're pirates. It's not like they're armed with swords and slingshots and goblins knows what else while we got-" Jay patted the chain of keys hidden in his beanie. 

"We have the element of surprise. Which we will lose if we let them get away. Come on!" Coming out from behind the the column, Lonnie and Jay ran down the hall, all stealth left behind before leaping onto the pirates. It was a struggle but Lonnie and Jay made one hell of a team. Lonnie was right, even though their footsteps were loud enough, the nameless pirates didn't think to pull out their swords until it was too late. Giving the other two the opportunity to land some knockout punches and kicks to their opponents. The others came out when the two pirates fell.

"Nice job guys." Doug said, a little amazed. He was still a little new to the whole, VK schemes and such. It was terrifying but exhilarating. Though that might be all the dirt and dust he surely inhaled when he was held prisoner making him hallucinate. 

"All in a days work." Jay said and high fived Lonnie. 

_"We'll need to take down at least nine more pirates for their clothes. In fact, before we leave, does anybody wanna strip the guy we already have?"_

"So...who's stripping down these two?" Lonnie asked. Chad shook his head, "I already stripped down the first one." He said, holding up the folded clothes and boots as proof, "Not doing it again. Saw some things that just don't belong on the human body."

"Chad, why haven't you changed yet?" Carlos asked.

"I was a bit busy running through the halls trying to catch pirates while not getting caught by pirates for the second time after I had just been previously imprisoned by pirates." Chad shot which led to Carlos pushing him towards one of the columns telling him to go change.

"Rock, paper, scissors?" Jane suggested. Everybody seemed pretty okay with that idea and through the process of elimination, it ended up being that Ben and Doug would have to be the next ones to change. After getting quickly dressed in pirate outfits of their own, Ben and Doug joined to group in the hallway. Chad was scratching at his collar and back and legs and just about everywhere else he could reach.

"Jesus. It's obvious that personal hygiene wasn't high on this guy's list." Chad stated while scratching. Audrey hit him telling him to knock it off. "In case you've forgotten, running water was a luxury for us." Evie explained. Chad went quiet. Part of it embarrassment, most of it trying to concentrate on not scratching.

"So what do we do with these putzes?" Jay asked. Mal shrugged and turned to Ben. "Are there any closets nearby?" Walking awkwardly in his newfound pirate gear, Ben led them one hallway over where a closet that was big enough to hold full sized people stood. Chad and Jay forced one pirate in while Doug and Carlos did the other. The group looked over the unconscious pair for a second before locking the door on them.

"What will we do if they wake up?" Audrey asked. Mal smiled, fingers up and ready. "Speak no more, nor whisper thee, not a sound from this door shall be released. There. Even if they speak the door's been spelled so even when they wake all the sound will stay behind the door."

"Is that all it takes?" Jane asked. Mal made a considering face before raising her finger again, "Bicker and holler, squabble and squawk, twist their words when next they talk. Just in case they get out and are feeling a bit chatty."

They continued to do this for several more pirates. Luckily, Uma's crew had both male and female pirates so it was easy enough to get something more suitable body wise for the girls. Soon enough and a couple dozen spells later, the ten of them were disguised as pirates. Dressed head to toe as a member of Uma's crew. They each put the pirate clothes over their regular ones so it made movement a little funny.

"Back on the Isle if you had told me that one day I'd be willingly dressing up like one of Uma's pirates...I would've stabbed you in the eye with a needle." Evie remarked, looking over her outfit. So many crossing patterns and designs that didn't fit. The only one who looked more horrified than her was Audrey.

_"After we get the pirate outfits, we'll have go infiltrate the crew which'll be damn hard. Only thing that works for us is that the crew isn't the brightest and they won't be expecting us. So you keep your heads down and voices low. The objective is to find out where Uma is or what she's planning. Preferably both. If you've got info then signal all of us so we can make a break for it."_

"So now what?" Carlos asked, fixing his temporary pirate hat.

"Now we split." Mal stated, "Don't get caught, don't get killed." Nodding to one each other and silently saying their goodbyes, each of them, some more reluctant than others, spread out in search of other pirates trying to figure out what was going on. One by one, they each made their way to the coronation where dozens, maybe even close to a hundred, of pirates were running around. 

This was going to be tougher than they thought.

* * *

A wave of nostalgia hit Harry as he walked into one of the upstairs room in the church. This was the room where he had his first ever council meeting. He still remembers the scowl on Prince Charming's face as Harry told him off and when Ben had asked to go shopping with him. Who ever knew that a simple day out, with the king of Auradon no less, would become one of Harry's favorite memories? 

"Is there anything here?" Gil asked behind him.

Harry took one last look at the room before shaking his head and slowly closing the door. "No, naught. Thar are some other rooms over here." Harry said, leading Gil over to one of the many rooms Harry's yet to step foot in. The next room looked basic. Like every other variation of every other room in this building except this room had a little bay window. It was a bit of a blessing because Harry had forgotten how hot this place could get. Harry pointed over to some boxes on the other side of the room, gesturing for the both of them to search through it. Under orders, Harry and Gil had been tasked on finding any clue as to where Ben's true crown was. A part of him didn't want to find it but a part of him, despite it being ages ago, had sworn loyalty to Uma no matter what. Harry never knew that it could be this hard to stay true to your word, your vow.

He kept looking anyways.

"So...we're not talking about it?" Gil asked. The two of them were also in this random room in the church looking for decorations for Uma's big day. Multi tasking at it's finest. Harry hadn't sparked any conversation nor had he hinted that he wanted to so Gil talking out of nowhere was a bit of a surprise. Except not by much because it was Gil.

It was the other thing he would soon say that surprised Harry.

"Talk about wha'?" Harry asked, bending down to look through some old boxes.

"That fact that we're about to burn down everything holy under the sun." Gil started. Harry snorted. "Dunno if ye've been payin' attention Gil but burnin' down holy things be kind of me specialty." He said, drawing out the syllables in speciality. "That 'n.." He raised his hook a bit. Let the threat speak for itself.

"Yeah but we've never hurt anyone like..."

"Like who?"

"Like Ben."

Harry froze.

"You know, the guy who you've been hanging out with so much the past few months. The guy you actually care about, maybe even lo-"  
Harry whipped around, placing the blunt part of his hook under Gil's chin. "Maybe even wha'?"

"I've spent the last few months watching people under Uma's orders. It was mostly VK's but not only them. If you look closely, you notice some things."

Harry turned the hook under Gil's chin a bit but Gil seemed undisturbed. Going as far as to placing his own hand on the hook and gently pushing it away. "So we're not talking about it?"

Harry glowered at the other boy who had the good sense to gulp and show just a hint of fear. Annoyed and unsatisfied, Harry left the room to find some lackey he could terrorize. Sometimes he really hated it when Gil used that eggs for brain of his. Harry didn't speak aloud as he walked away but that didn't stop him from thinking.

 _"No, we're not."_ He thought.

Walking down the down the stairs, some bumbling pirate who's name Harry couldn't be bothered to remember had crashed into Harry. Admittedly, Harry might've overreacted a smidgen but he was having a bad enough week as it was with the whole betraying Ben, questioning his feelings about everything, Uma's scrutiny, etc. Not to mention that Harry has quite a lot of residual anger left over from living, no, _surviving_ on the Isle for the last seventeen rotten years. It's been building for quite awhile especially because of this godforsaken plan that's put Harry in the position of questioning everything he's ever known.

So more of a bad enough lifetime. 

Not caring about the consequences, Harry grabbed the now terrified pirate by the front of his shirt and yanked him over the railings. They were still pretty high on the staircase and while the dangling pirate wouldn't die, the fall from here would be far from painless.

"Hasn't anyone ever taught ye to watch where ye're goin'?" Harry snarled to the other sniveling boy. "I-I didn't mean to bump into you sir."

 _Sir? Gross. That's more my father than me._ He ignored the comment being a bit busy at the moment.

"But ye did 'n now here we be." Harry said. Truth was, Harry didn't even have much of a problem with the accidental shove seeing as there were much more important things, important people, on his mind than a low ranking deck swapper but he's been feeling so out of control lately (and not in the good way) that he just wanted to enjoy things going his way. If only for a moment. He had no problem if it was at the expense of others. He never, correction, _rarely_ did.

"Harry let him go." Gil said politely behind him. Harry turned his head to see Gil carrying a box. What was in it, he didn't really know...or care. He turned his attention back to the boy in his hands. A lot of people thought he didn't have enough control when he used a hook for a hand but years of practice taught him it was simply a matter of maneuvering the hook in the right way in order to get it to work correctly. In the fifteen seconds that Harry had looked away, the little pirate had seemingly gotten his sense of bravado back. A type of arrogance if you will.

"What he said. Let. Me. Go." The pirate demanded and all Harry did was laugh. Laugh so hard that his eyes began to tear up but when he opened his eyes and quieted down, the look in his eyes was enough for chills to go down anybody's spine.

"Okay." And so, Harry simply...

Let.

Go.

The crack of bones breaking was loud, but not as loud as the silence that followed which was to be expected. This wasn't his first rodeo. People tended to go quiet whenever he dropped them. He thinks it's the shock. A lot of them tended to pass out. The screaming comes a bit later.

Gil looked over the railing and winced. "That's not what I meant."

Harry took a peek in the box Gil was carrying before shrugging. "C'mon. We gotta go meet our cap'n. Or her highness or whatever she's callin' herself these days."

* * *

The coronation hall was filled with complete pandemonium. 

The pirates around were driving themselves mad, running around the room setting things in the very specific way that Uma wanted. Or at least, that looked like what they were doing. The yellow and blue flags had been taken down and replaced with new ones. These were black and aqua blue with two X's made of a pitchfork and sword on each diagonal side of the flag. The blue carpet leading up the stairs to the throne had been replaced with a deep, dark purple. Almost as a reminiscent of the original evil queen of the seas. Speaking of the throne, it looked to be the piece of resistance. The framing was black with rich purple seats. Along the sides of where a persons back would be were eight sharp-ended turquoise tentacles attached to it. The pedestal that once held the wand now sat next to the throne with nothing to hold...yet. Everything had been changed. Even the lights had been fixed to have a slightly darker undertone.

 _"Someone's been busy."_ All ten of the escapees thought at some point as the scrutinized their seemingly new surroundings. Under Mal's command, the group had split up to get more eyes and ears on the situation. Skulking through the hordes of people, each of them tried to keep an ear out and an eye open for anything that would be useful.

"Wha' are ye doin' ye squiffy mook?" One pirate said to another who was attaching curtains. Doug, pretended to check the handle on his new sword as he listened in."Uma said that she wanted dark purple curtains to' cover th' windows, nah th' lavender ones!" Doug rolled his eyes as he moved on. Unless Uma was planning on taking over the decorating business, those two were useless.

* * *

Lonnie was a little more on the risky side. Instead of listening on the sidelines, she walked up to a table full of pirates and pretended to shuffle through boxes. Careful to keep her head down, she listened in.

"Thar's no way that ye could do it." One female pirate said to the male in front of her. Lonnie's ears perked up. _No way he could do what?_

"I could totally loot on Harry Hook." The male pirate defended himself. _Loot? As in fight loot? Was there going to be a mutiny?_

"Nah in the way ye wants to." The female smirked.  _Wait, what?_

"I could loot him on anytime, anyway I wants. O'er 'n o'er 'n o'er again." Lonnie made a displeasured face when she figured out what exactly they were talking about. As much as she wanted to say that he wasn't exactly the pirate's type (if knowing Ben was anything to go by) she knew she had to leave before she was caught. Grabbing a random piece of fabric from a box, she walked away leaving them to be none the wiser.

* * *

While Audrey was far from being a bumbling klutz - princess lessons with her grandmother had taught her well - she was far from being the girl with the cover spy stealth that was seemingly needed in this situation. That, however, didn't seem to matter since the pirates around her were only interested in out eating each other. She watched a group stuff their face with whatever food they had found in an attempt to out eat each other. Food particles were flying everywhere, prompting Audrey to make a swift exit.

_Pirates are freaking gross._

* * *

Despite being itchy and irritated, Jay was able to zig zag in and out the crowd of pirates with ease. Going as far as to tip his hat to the more appealing pirates he came across. Just because they were evil didn't mean he didn't know how to appreciate a good looking face. Sadly, flirting wasn't exactly part of the mission so he forced himself to focus. At some point he crossed one of those tear away maps and couldn't help but check the date.

_"Really? Uma decided to take over the world on a Sunday?"_

If his memory was right that meant that he and the rest of them had been in that boring, torture chamber for about four days. Moving on, he leaned against a pillar near some particularly chatty pirates and picked at the buttons on his new jacket as he eavesdropped. 

" 'Tis Auradon huh? Wha' a pathetic lot, can nah wait to squander all of 'em. Burn 'em all says I. BURN 'EM ALL!" Jay watched in fascinated horror as a small group of pirates cheered the speaker on.

"OY! Wha' are ye lookin' at?" The speaker said. Jay shook his head and put a fist in the air to make it look as if he were on their side. He even said a quick 'burn 'em all' before walking away and coolly as he could.

* * *

Evie adjusted the chest plate to the pirates uniform. Whoever had this before her was significantly smaller than her. She wouldn't be surprised if she passed out from lack of air circulation. Powering through, Evie looked around for a pair of pirates that she could manipulate. To her right were duo of pirates arm wrestling while a small group watched. Maybe she could get some information there. She watched for about two seconds until the red headed pirate beat the darker haired pirate with a self satisfying smirk.

"Ye know wha' ye gotta do now that ye've lost." The red-head said, all to satisfied. The black haired one stood up, not looking too upset that he lost. As the group dispersed, Evie followed the pair out into another hallway.

_Is no one else curious about what these two are up to?_

Evie stayed quite a few steps behind them but still in her eyesight range even watching them from behind a wall. Which meant that she could see almost completely well when the two leaned  against a column and when the dark haired pirate went down to his knees, undid the red head's pants buckle and-

Maybe she should look somewhere else.

* * *

Contrary to what one might think, Chad knew his personal skill set rather well. Sure, he could be a doofus when it comes to some stuff but in certain cases, he actually knew what he was doing. For instance, two minutes ago when he picked up and threw a sewing pin holder at a random pirate's head behind another pirate, easily framing him. When the brawl broke out, other pirates stepped into help after a few minutes of watching people beat themselves for their amusement.

The reason that Chad did that was so that the pirate who he had hit would walk away from the seemingly important papers he was looking over with other pirates at a table. While the pirates fought, Chad took the precious seconds he had to look over at what they were staring at. It was blueprints of Auradon with multiple buildings near the school crossed out.

_What the-_

The sound of a crash startled him. It turns out to be a good thing when the pirates start dragging one of their own to the table. He decides that he can make his great escape now because even if he doesn't have the map, at least he's seen it.

* * *

Carlos inched closer trying to catch what the pirates in front of him were saying. He thought he heard something along the lines of "thrones" and seeing that the old one had been replaced, Carlos thought that he'd finally stumbled onto something important.

Boy was he wrong.

"I be tellin' ye, Daenarys be the one who be gonna win the Game of Thrones. Mother of dragons 'n all ye dipshit!" The first female pirate argued.

" 'N I'm tellin' ye that 'tis Jon that shall will. The hidden Targaryen, next in line fer the throne, cap'n of the north. Might as well become cap'n of everythin'." The second one fired back. Carlos was so annoyed that he couldn't even find it in him to pout at his misfortune. Besides, everybody knows that the Game Of Thrones is a trick seeing as everybody who dares let their butt touch that chair ends up dead or crazy or both.

It kind of makes Carlos wonder if Uma's sat in it too.

* * *

Mal continuously scratches her scalp but is careful to not let any of her hair fall out of place. It had been Evie's idea for them to cover their hair seeing as bright blue and purple hair was a bit of a dead giveaway when it came to identifying them. While Mal can see the logic, and even agrees with that motion, she still hates the fact that this stupid hat has to be on her heaf anyways. Goblins, she's forgotten how bad the hygiene situation was on the Isle. It's almost as if she can feel the mold and dandruff growing on the hat. It doesn't help that pirates tend to spend their time near sea salt and algae. It makes her uncomfortable and she slightly curses Auradon for making her so soft.

Discomfort aside, Mal scans the room for any suckers who might talk. She's got itchy trigger finger from being surrounded and has to fight the urge to hang on to her new sword. Her mind briefly snaps back to the pirates hidden in all those closets, stuffed together half naked. Under normal circumstances she might feel a little guilty but being imprisoned in an ancient dungeon is _far_ from normal circumstances even for her.

Mal slowly walks through the open space keeping an ear out for all conversations but nothing is really sticking out other than the fact that a lot of pirates talk about a lot of dumb shit. Problem is she already knew that.

There is a little incident where someone ends up looking at her a bit too closely but whispering a quick spell of forgetfulness takes care of that.

Man, she really loves magic.

* * *

While Ben is very grateful for his newfound super hearing, he isn't grateful for his lack of control.

It's like he can hear pieces of almost every conversation, all of it twisting into very confusing mumbo jumbo. At times he has to clasp his hands over his ears just for a brief moment of reprieve. Unfortunately, it's during one of those moments that another pirate, an actual pirate, catches him.

"Wha' are ye doin' mate? Who gave ye permission to bug off?" One pirate loudly asls behind him causing Ben to instinctively bow his head down lower. The pirate smacks him of the back of the head, quite hard might he add, under the assumption that Ben didn't hear him or was ignoring him. The sudden aggressive contact almost makes Ben growl but he holds it back. Barely.

"I be natterin' to ye."

Natterin'? He's pretty sure that natterin' means talking if all those times talking to Harry meant anything. Reluctantly, Ben lowers his hands just to make it seem like he's not an entirely crazy person. He also turns toward the pirate but his face is still down. Ben doesn't know if he should make his voice higher or lower so he stupidly opts for saying nothing. The other pirate doesn't seem too happy about that.

"Well wha' are ye doin'?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Ben spies an unattended box on the chair next to him and quickly snatches it, being careful not to show his face. He's been seeing pirates walk around with boxes almost everywhere to he shows the man in front of him the box without even really knowing what's in it.

Somehow, someway, the pirate buys it. Most likely filling in the gaps to Ben's oddness himself. 

"Okay, go on then. No dilly dallyin'." He says, mocking Ben by putting his hands over his ears, "Uma wants everythin' perfect fer the big ceremony." Ben gives him a quick solute even though he isn't sure if pirates even do that. Doesn't matter, Ben's long gone before the other pirate can even question it. He worries for his friends though. He has a bad feeling that their time sneaking around is quickly running out.

* * *

 _"Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God, OH MY GOD!"_ Jane kept repeating to herself. This was insane! Walking around pretending to be pirates. They were all going to get themselves killed! And her mom, her poor mother, if she saw what kind of trouble Jane had gotten herself into she'd be beside herself. Thinking about her mother brings solemn thoughts seeing as how Mal had been the one to tell her that it was most likely Fairy Godmother who had cast the spell. Which meant that she was probably being held captive.

It was thinking of her mother that gave Jane the strength needed to push ahead. 

She could barely see through the pirate hat that almost completely covered her eyes but she could see enough...kind of. She had been pretending to clean the throne when a pirate who was holding a manilla folder had walked up and placed the folder on the small table where the wand once stood. This pirate didn't seem like any of the other pirates here. She was far from a random lackey but didn't quite make it to Harry and Gil's level seeing as she was down here with the rest of them.

From the second she saw it, Jane wanted that folder but there were two problems. One, the folder may have been on the table but the female pirate was standing directly in front of it with her back turned while she talked to someone else. One minor head turn and she was screwed. Two, Jane was on the opposite end of the throne so she would somehow have to work her way over and take the folder with tons of pirates watching without getting caught.

There was no way that she could do this. She'd need a miracle.

_"Even miracles take a little time." Her mother once told her one night when she was younger. She had been going into 3rd grade and hadn't made any friends. She had insisted that she need magic or a miracle or something to make some. Her mother simply tucked her in and kissed her on the forehead before saying those words. The next day, her mother had taken off her signature bow and gave it to Jane as a bit of a confidence boost. "Not everybody is related to magic you know." Her mother told her. It was that day that she met Lonnie and Audrey. To this day she still thinks that the bow holds a little bit of magic so she always wore it and it was all thanks to her mother._

She had to do this. If she couldn't find a miracle, she'd have to become one.

Jane took the rag she was using and began wiping down the tentacles working her way over to the front. Crouching to the point of squatting, she slowly shined away at the parts of the throne that could be cleaned until she was next to table while cleaning the left armrest. Now for the hard part; actually obtaining the folder. Jane cleaned with her left hand while slowly creeping up the side of the table with her right. The table was close enough to the throne that Jane could use her body to hide her hand creeping up the side reaching up for the folder.

When Jane's fingertips had reached the top of the table she paused, looking around to see if anyone had noticed her. The female's back was still turned and no one was paying attention to her. Good. She continued on with her efforts and took so much time inching over to the folder that her right arm started to cramp up. It was almost worth it when she began the feel the edges of the folder with her fingertips. Success! Now all she would have to do is-

A hand shot out and grabbed Jane's wrist. "Wha' do ye reckon ye're doin' wee butterfly?" The woman (who had turned around by this point) barked. Jane looked up through her hat, silenced by fear. The woman had dragged Jane up, looking over her in a type of inspection as if she were determining the level of threat Jane was at. Jane noticed that she had olive skin, and black hair with a dark purple streak. She had green eyes and dark red lips. One would call her pretty if Jane wasn't so freaking terrified. Smirking, the lady tossed Jane onto the floor. She landed on her stomach with the hat falling off, giving away her identity. By this time, the disturbance had created quite a crowd

"A prisoner from the dungeon has escaped!" The lady yelled to the crowd. Jane noticed that she didn't have an accent. Not like the rest of these pirates. The lady unsheathed her sword, placing the tip under Jane's chin, forcing her to look up at her. "Where are the others?"

Jane stayed silent. The lady huffed, "Where. Are. The. Others?" She made a point of pressing the sword a bit more with every word. The last one left a small cut on Jane's throat and she could feel a drop of blood run down her neck when she swallowed. The lady looked at the crowd, enjoying the spectacle before removing her sword away from Jane's neck. She raised her sword, "Well if you won't talk.." As she brought her sword down, Jane closed her eyes preparing for the end but a clang of metal brought her back.

Opening her eyes, Jane was stunned to see Lonnie with her sword out, blocking the other lady's attack. "Hands off." Lonnie warned. Seeing that not one but two prisoners had made an appearance, the pirates began to take out their own swords, ready for a battle. Hungry for blood. Scattered around the room, the other prisoners looked around in bewilderment at the sudden change of action. Nevertheless, train or not, everybody was ready to fight. 

_"I have a question." Chad said. The whole lot of them were in the hallway, recently changed wearing the pirate clothes over their own._

_"Of course you do." Jay replied._

_"Forgive me if I wanna stay alive!" Chad spat._

_"What's up?" Mal asked._

_"We're about to enter a room filled with people trying to enslave and/or kill us. In the almost positive event that we get caught, what do we do then?" Chad asked._

_"He has a good point." Carlos admitted._

_"And what if it's only one or two of us gets caught?" Ben questioned._

_"Do we just fend for ourselves or is it no man left behind?" Audrey added._

_"We need a code word or sentence or something." Evie said, "If or when shit hits the fan."_

_"Glitter is falling out of my pants!" Jay supplied. Mal turned to him in confused exasperation, "Why would we say that?"_

_"In what other context could that sentence possibly be used in?" Jay quipped. Lonnie made a considering face. "...He's kinda got a point."_

_Mal blankly blinked for a moment before responding. "Okay...we have our code. Now what does it mean?"_

_"Well we can't leave anyone behind!" Jane said._

_"But we can't be stupid out there either." Carlos rebutted._

_"So why don't we do both?" Ben suggested. At the many pairs of eyes looking at him in confusion, he elaborated. "In one way or another, everybody here is right. If we get caught, we all have to fight like hell to get out of there but also to make sure everyone is with us."_

_"So like some of us make a distraction while others get our friends and then we split like the red sea?" Evie guessed._

_"Exactly."_

_"Works for me." Mal said, "Any objections?"_

The lady laughed at the gaul that Lonnie had. Did she not see where she was? "You're surrounded little girl. Any last words?"

"Yeah." Lonnie smiled, "GLITTER IS FALLING OUT OF MY PANTS!" She bellowed. The odd phrasing was enough to distract the lady pirate enough for Lonnie to side sweep her sword away and kick her in the stomach. Using the precious seconds she had, Lonnie picked up Jane from the floor. Since Lonnie had dared to utter the phrase, the other eight had their swords out, bashing metal with other pirates trying in an earnest effort to make both a distraction and find a way out.

"What do we do?" Jane cried. Lonnie took out Jane's sword and gave it to her.

"We fight."

Keeping a sort of close eye on Jane, Lonnie slashed her sword up, blocking an oncoming pirate while elbowing another that tried to sneak up behind her. The lady pirate from before had gotten up and advanced on Lonnie. Jane, who was much more out of her depth, focused her efforts on finding everyone a way out of the room. The side doors were blocked by pirates, going out the window would be hell. The only option left was through the front, past a scattered army of angry pirates.

What did they do to deserve this?

Evie and Jay covered each other backs, cutting down the mountains of pirates coming for them. Mal, though not as skilled, held her own against two pirates attacking her at the same time. Back on the Isle all the VK's figure it would be a good idea to get at least some fencing skills under their belt seeing how princes got a little sword happy around villains. Especially dragons. Carlos was using his size to his advantage. Dipping below and in between pirates to hit their pressure spots. Chad was fine on his own since he's been fencing since about childhood. Although, what he had in technique, the pirates doubled in brutality.

Audrey and Doug had somehow been paired together and Doug watched in awe as Audrey took down several pirates without even touching her sword. "How in the world can you do that?" He asked. Audrey turned to him with a hair flip and smiled. "Grandmother didn't raise anymore helpless damsels."

Near the middle of the room, Carlos maneuvered his way out of a pirates grasp and sword whipped him on the side of his head. His goal was to get the slingshot that was hanging out of his opponents pocket. With a low spin, Carlos took out the legs from underneath the pirate and stole his slingshot. He then began firing whatever small objects he could find.

Mal had been fencing with this once pirate when another had let out a fearsome cry behind her. She had just barely enough time to dodge being cut down. Stepping away from being in the middle she threw her hat in the face of one pirate before kneeing the other in the groin and send them barreling into each other. The pirates had begun to gang up on Jay who was almost unmatched with his mixture of violence and style. When two burly pirates almost pinned his arms down, Evie was there knick one in the arm and with all of her strength, drag the other one off him. While everyone was fighting, Jane worked her way around the room avoiding falling pirates, trying to tell everyone where the exit was. Ben was in the middle of disarming his third pirate when Jane suddenly appeared beside him, nearly scaring the skin off of him.

He looked at the cut on her throat. "Jane, are you alright." She frantically nodded and then pointed to the exit. "That's the only way we can leave." Ben nodded and grabbed her hand. "Then let's go."

He could only pray that the others saw him and Jane leaving. In the blur of bodies flying everywhere, Doug noticed two retreating forms in the shape of Jane and Ben. He tapped Audrey, who was punching a pirate in the face, to get her attention to show her where they would apparently be going. It was then, Audrey who told Chad, who told Jay and so forth. Slowly, brutally, the escapees fought their way to the exit, some farther ahead then others. Ben had only parried, disarmed and taken down two more pirates before the doors opened themselves sending Ben almost crashing into Gil and the one and only Harry Hook.

At the sense of the new arrivals, the fighting ceased. A nervous quiet spreading throughout the room like wildfire. Ben's eyes gaped and his mind blanked looking at the pirate. He looked the same from the last time Ben saw him but things were so drastically different. Jane, seeing his hesitation, squeezed Ben's hand, leading him backwards, into the heap of pirates but away from the true threat. 

Before Harry could even speak, another voice cut him off. "Well isn't this a surprise." Uma said from the bridge above, looking down at them all. The VK's and others, however stunned they were, used this moment for a quick breather. "I have to say, I was wondering when you all would finally break out of there." She looked through the crowd and made eye contact with Mal. "Aw, Mal, looks like you've lost your touch."

Mal felt her eyes glow green with not jealousy, but rage.

"Well what are you waiting for? GET EM!" Uma commanded.

All hell broke loose as metal hit metal in a fight between Uma and the pirates and the VK's and Auradorians. It didn't matter where you came from, everybody was fighting, letting the their demons out to play, their more sadistic side coming into the light. Furniture was broken and blood was spilled. Some fought with swords, others with their fists and kicks. Some even preferring to just throw things at their opponents from the side lines. Closer to the exit but still scattered, the VK's and Preppies fought on the deffensive trying to make their way to the door. Gil was long gone but Harry had needed a minute to gather his thoughts before reluctantly unsheathing his own sword and joining the fight himself. 

From her position on the floor, Mal saw Uma watching them all tear each other apart with a smile on her face. One spell later, Mal had transported herself from the ground to the bridge above where Uma was. She swung at her with her sword but Uma dodge, pulling out a sword of her own. The two of them stood there for a second, glaring at each other in a standstill, ignoring the violence down below.

"You know Mal, sword fighting was never your strong suit." Uma mocked.

"But taking you down always was." Mal smashed her sword down against Uma's and Uma deflected before kicking Mal in the stomach, sending her flying back a few feet. Regaining her composure, Mal barely had enough time to dodge a plowing Uma by kicking her legs out and tripping the other girl. Crawling away, Mal grabbed her sword while Uma got hers. Only hesitating for a split second, both girls charged at each other. In a swirl of aqua and purple and scraping metal, the two girls fought holding nothing back. Swiping, punching and kicking, each of them out for blood. 

Down below in a turn of events, Ben had somehow gotten separated from Jane but had gotten closer to Jay who was taking down pirates left and right. "THERE'S. WAY. TOO. MANY. OF. THEM!" Ben cried out to the boy behind him. He'd lost count of how many pirates he had taken down. Every time one went down, three sprang up like freaking daisies. 

"I. NOTICED!" Jay yelled, punching one pirate square in the face. "Get the others out of here!" Jay ordered, "I'll cover you." He stopped Ben before he left in a rare moment of rest from fighting. "He's out there you know."

Ben knew who he was talking about.

"I know."

"Do you think you can fight him?"

Ben decided to be honest, "...I don't know...but do I have a choice?"

"Of course you do but remember this: You just split from your girlfriend, people from the Isle are invading, Uma pretty much planned a coup for your throne and the boy who you've fallen for is pretty much responsible for all of it or at least had a hand in it. I know you've been struggling with your beast side but if there was anytime to let loose; it's now." Jay had barely finished his speech when Ben sensed an object hurtling towards them and tackled Jay to the ground. Turns out it was a sword, which now stuck out of the wall. Jay got up and plucked it out, ready to fight with double the ammo. He nodded at Ben before diving into the heat of the battle once more.

Ben fought his way through the crowd, giving out as good as he got it. That being said, he earned quite a few bruises and cuts from being punched, and nicked and kicked and whatever other type of bodily harm that was done to him. He had been able to get to Chad and Audrey but found a little misstep while getting to Doug. He was in the middle of battling yet another nameless pirate when said nameless pirate suddenly stopped and fell to the ground unconscious leaving one Harry Hook with his sword raised in front of him.

How Ben wished he was still fighting the nameless pirate. 

They surveyed each other, lost in each other despite the battle surrounding them. Harry had a cut on his right eyebrow that sent blood streaming down the side of his face and another cut on his lip. Other than that, he seemed fine. Ben figures it would be rather hard to get one up on the pirate, never mind cut him. Ben has a strong feeling that he looks much worse. The two of them stood there frozen as if the fight was seeping out of him but then Ben remembered Jay's words from earlier and angrily swung at Harry who easily blocked it. Ben knew that wouldn't work but he needed to do something that would restart his brain. 

Almost automatically, the two of them began fighting. Ben was mostly on the defense because of Harry's experience outsmarting him. Ben wasn't stupid. He knew that Harry could end this anytime he wanted which meant that he was holding back but that didn't mean that Ben had too. Not thinking about it, Ben growled at the other boy with his fangs in display along with the claws and glowing eyes too. The quick transformation startled Harry which was enough for Ben to jump on him and tackle him almost across the room into a wall. The crash had hurt them both, leaving them stumbling to the ground. Slowly getting up to their feet, Ben couldn't help but think about the two of them.

_Look at us. A mess of broken hearts and body parts._

Sword in hand, Ben decided to use this moment kick Harry in the knee. Not enough to break it, but enough to send him down. Ben stood over him and as much as it pained him, he placed his sword at Harry chest. On the floor, Harry looking at him with pained, pleading eyes. "I don't wanna fight ye Ben."

"...Interesting time to say that." Ben eventually replies, still regaining his breath.

"Your technique's gotten better." Harry commented. Ben snorted, it sounded so hollow, "Had one hell of a teacher even though he's kind of a huge dick."

Harry dismissed the jab, "Despite how good ye've gotten, there is one thing I never thought ye."

"...What's that?"

"How to beat me." In two seconds, Harry managed to use his hook to disarm Ben and take the sword from himself. From there it's Harry lunging at Ben and Ben having barely enough time to dodge the attacks. He doesn't notice that Harry has backed him against the wall, effectively blocking him in with his hands. It kind of reminds Ben of their time in the dressing room. Before it was embarrassing but now it's just painful.

"Is this the part where you make off his your head literal?" Ben darkly joked and Harry dropped the sword, looking appalled. "Ben, I could never do that to ye."

"No, but you could betray me so that your captain can take over the throne."

"Ye think I care about the throne?" Harry asked, "I couldn't...care less." Harry paused, hesitating before speaking again, "I don't care about the throne, I care about ye." Ben looked up and closed his eyes, willing himself to not look into the other man's eyes because if he looked, he was a goner. He knew it. He couldn't hear this right now, possibly not ever.

"Ben...if anything I lo-"  Ben heard a thud on the floor and opened his eyes to see a ragged Evie standing in front of him and an unconscious Harry at his feet.

"C'mon." Evie started, "Our friends need our help." A little stunned, Ben let Evie whisk him away as he looked back at the unconscious boy behind him.

Back on the bridge, both girls had been successful at disarming each other and had now come to physical blows in their fight. Uma swung at Mal who dodged and punched her in the lower back. Uma staggered forward but turned around and sent a swift roundhouse kick to Mal's face. Uma's foot had hit her in the cheek and sent careening into the side of the bridge. Spitting out blood and clinging to the wall, Mal forced herself back up with her arms up. There's a distinct possibility that Uma loosened a tooth if the sharp pain in the back of her mouth means anything.

"Don't you ever get tired?" Mal asked.

"Of you? Of course." Uma answered before kicking Mal in the thigh and pushing her back to the ground. On the floor, Mal turned around on her back and said a spell that sent Uma flying. Stiff, bruised and possibly with something broken, Mal clumsily got back up, swaying where she stood. Uma was still standing too but not as confident as before being very dizzy but not dizzy enough to stop fighting. Both of them are breathing heavily.

Mal pointed her finger with another spell but with an open palm, Uma blocked it sending it straight back to Mal. The purple haired girl had no idea that shrimpy could even do that. She didn't even know how to do that. Before Mal could defend herself, the spell came back on her full force sending her soaring high into the air only to land straight on her back, slamming onto the floor. The room was spinning and Mal was pretty sure that she heard something crack. Uma came into her very blurred vision laughing with a red smile. "Don't you see Mal? You've lost." Distantly, she hears Uma let out a loud whistle and suddenly she's being carried and moved off the bridge and down to the stairs below where everyone else is. It takes an embarrassingly long amount of time to figure out that she's being carried by the arms by two of Uma's brutes. 

Downstairs is where the tide has truly turned. Everything inside is destroyed and fighters blood are splattered everywhere but it's not the gore that keeps Mal's attention but in front of her each of her friends, Isle or Auradon wise, are being held captive with a sword to the throat. All of them has been disarmed including Ben who's been held in a chokehold instead of a sword point like the rest of them. Drowsily, Mal watches as Uma steps up to the throne, her throne, that has miraculously survived the entire battle. She sits down, looking damn comfortable despite the injuries Mal knows she gave her. The brutes holding her let her go and push her towards to throne. It takes every inch of will power to not fall to the ground again.

She's so damn tired.

Ben is brought next to her and given the same treatment. They're left side by side facing Uma while all their friends face a possible death.

While she's on the throne, the many cuts and bruises on Uma's face doesn't seem to phase her. Uma takes her time to start talking but once she does, Mal wishes she kept her mouth shut.

"Here are your options. You can keep fighting a pointless fight that you know you can't win and die or you can submit. Then again if you don't kneel your friends are gonna feel the wrong end of a blade so I guess you two really only have one option."

Ben and Mal look around at the state of the room, their friends. themselves and each other. They've got spirt, they've got gumption and they've got pride but right now, they have no plan and no way out. 

So together, the former king of Auradon and the former queen of the Isle kneeled side by side to the new queen of both. 

* * *

They're all sent back to dungeon afterwards with even heavier chains than before. This time Ben gets a muzzle to keep those pesky fangs from biting the guards...again. The pirates that the team had ironically plundered had gotten their clothes back but not before laughing at once again prisoners. In a last ditch effort of pettiness, Mal refused to undo the spell, cursing them to speaking gibberish forever. 

Oddly enough, the treatment is better this time with meals at regular times and having their buckets changed. They're even given blankets to keep with them in the cells. A part of them all knows that it means that Uma has truly won and that it officially doesn't matter what she does to them. If the dead eyes and silence in the cages mean anything, the group's spirits are truly, utterly broken. 

They all look a mess. They're bruised, bloody and broken. Having ripped off the pirate outfits and given back to the original owners, they were all back in their regular clothes not that it helped much. The battle had left them ripped and used and it wasn't as if they were given a time to change. Since there's no treatment, most of their wounds will turn to scars at best and be infected at worse. Chad tells them all about the blueprints and the marks that were crossed off. It takes a minute but Ben remembers Harry asking about his crown and quickly figures out that they were trying to figure out where the real crown was. 

"Nice effort though." Jay mutters. It must be a cold day in hell for Jay to be complimenting Chad. Sadly, the iciness of hell has been commodity lately.

"What do we do now?" Jane asked. She felt horrible. If she had been a little bit sneakier, a little bit less afraid then maybe, just maybe, they would've won. Maybe she would've seen her mom by now.

"What can we do?" Evie replied. Jay closed his eyes for a second before screaming at the ceiling. A pained yet empty shout into the void. No one says anything. Barely even react. After a long pause of silence Lonnie asks Jay a question.

"How come you hate Harry so much? I mean, I get _why_ but you seem a little more...affected at times." When Jay doesn't speak for a long time she just assumes that he's gone off into his own world like the rest of them. She's about to herself when she almost misses him speak.

"Because I was almost him one day." Lonnie doesn't say anything else but that doesn't stop Jay from speaking. "I was supposed to be one of them. A pirate. Got all the training for it too. Why'd you think I was so good at tourney?" He mirthlessly laughs. He hesitates for a minute before resuming. "I may have also done some...stuff with him." Jay risks a glance at Ben for a reaction but Ben doesn't do anything. With that muzzle on it's hard to even remember that he's Ben. 

Yet the look in his eyes are far from mad but more masochistic as if they say  _go on._

Jay finds himself speaking on automatic, "It's not like it was romantic or something but even I admit that the boy had his charms and it wasn't like there were a lot of options on the Isle."

"What happened?" Lonnie questioned. What she really meant was why'd they stop.

"As the tensions between Mal and Uma grew worse, it was time for me to pick a side. Harry never specifically asked me to but he didn't have to. Long story short: you saw who I chose. Time passed, animosity grew and now here we are but if I had chosen differently..."

There were way too many possible endings to that sentence, to Jay's choice.

It got pretty quiet after that.

The days feel like years and the seconds-hours. No one spoke. No one did anything except sit and lie in their personal prison in silence. They didn't do...

They just were.

* * *

Harry walked into Uma's chambers stone faced and stone cold. He hasn't felt much of anything these days.

Maybe it's better like that.

Weirdly enough, Uma didn't choose Ben's former bedroom as her new conquest. Another place to stake her metaphorical crown. Then again, what's the point if you've already won everything? Harry vaguely wonders what they'll do now. Now that they've won.

She's won.

Harry's kind of just there, mind and sanity sacrificed to oblivion. It doesn't matter much. It's not like he ever really had a hold on the 'sanity' part.

Back to the original thought. Weirdly enough, Uma didn't choose Ben's former bedroom but stayed in the dorm that she shared with Audrey. Maybe she's grown sentimental in her bitterness. The thought is almost enough to make Harry smirk.

Almost.

"Is everything ready?" Uma asks. She sitting at the mirror, putting on her seashell necklace. Harry's noticed a change to her. She's been less volatile, less impatient. Uma's by no means a saint but it's almost as if she's finally let herself breathe. Just when everybody else has to hold their breath.

"Almost." Harry answers. Short, bittersweet and simple. He's been keeping things like that lately. Nothing more, nothing less, nothing messy.

Uma beckons him over to stand next to her. Looking at their reflection in the mirror, they make quite the couple. The mad pirate and queen of the sea. On the Isle there had been more than a few rumors that they were together, obsessed with each other. Or at least that Harry was. In that respect they were right, still was, but Harry didn't want to date Uma. He didn't want to date anyone. He's not going to think about why. He just lets himself know that the 'why' will be fine...hopefully.

Harry stands while Uma finishes getting ready. The crown sits on the table with the gems glowing in the light. Harry vaguely wonders if the crown knows that it's been moved. It's silly to think that objects can feel anything but stranger things have happened yet. There's a knock on the door and when Uma gives the okay it's reveal to be Vanessa. Harry knows because of that damn purple streak in her otherwise black hair. 

"We're ready for you Captain." Vanessa says and her eyes linger on Harry before she leaves. He entertains the thought of letting her have what she wants because he  _knows_ what she wants but a part of him holds back. When Harry first learned that her name was Vanessa it had taken Gil plus four pirates to keep him from shish kabobbing her out of pure instinct. It couldn't be a coincidence that she shared Ursula's undercover name but again, stranger things have happened yet.

Ever since then, Harry hasn't exactly decided if being with Vanessa (in the most detached way possible) would be the same as being with Ursula. He'll think about that later.

Uma looks up at Harry and asks him to put the crown on her. He wonders why but does it anyways. It's a little hard to move with the hook but it's doable. In a weird way it feels like a little coronation of their own and maybe that's why she asked him to do it but he still doesn't say anything.

She places a hand over his in a rare moment of vulnerability. The moments themselves so far and few in between. "We did it."

"Ye did it." 

"Stay?"

"As yer servant?"

"As my first mate...as my friend." She knows what she's asking of him and before Auradon, responding might not be so hard but they don't live that way anymore. They don't think that way. It's a whole new game with new rules and new pieces. Who knows what'll happen next.

"...Yes."

"Promise?"

"...I give ye my word."

They stay where they are for what feels like forever. In the exact position with Uma sitting with the crown on her head and Harry on her right. Always on her right.

What a pair they make.

* * *

After a long enough amount of time goes by (not like anybody was counting) there are guards at their doors leading each of them out to the world above. Back in the coronation hall everything's been cleaned up. There were no traces of the previous battle that was there. There was also no traces of this room ever belonging to Ben or his family. Everything had been remade into Uma's image. The ten of them had been brought to stand in front of Uma, in all their chained glory. Uma sat at the throne cleaned up, wearing Ben's crown. The only hint of a fight was a small mark on her forehead that would've made Mal smirk if she had any energy left. Harry stood there on her right, wearing his hat minus the feather. The pirates must've found it in Ben's room and he doesn't really want to know what they were doing up there.

Gil is at Uma's left and the purple streaked haired lady pirate from before must be closer to Uma than anyone thought because she's the one in charge of keeping Fairy Godmother in place when she moves forward trying to go to her daughter.

"What a group of people." Uma says after a moment of silence. She must not expect any replies or simply doesn't care because she just keeps talking as if she's in a normal conversation.

"You know, I have to thank you Mal. I know we've had our differences but no one's ever really given me the push to succeed like you do."

Mal blinks exactly one time.  _Happy to help._

"Or you beasty-boy, you really gave Harry one hell of a time. I don't think he'll ever forget it and I don't think you will either."

Ben never even raises his eyes from the ground. _Nope_ , _my nightmares won't let me._

 _"_ And I really couldn't have done it all without your help Fairy Godmother." She smiles, "Well, without you and this." She looks over to where Ursula's orb is sitting instead of the wand. Uma keeps speaking but the once again prisoners tune her out, lost in their own misery. For some reason Mal can't stop looking at the mysterious orb. Why did Uma want that thing in the first place all it did was look like a overly fancy bubble that was meant for decora-

It comes together just like that and smacks Mal in the face. The pieces of a puzzle that she didn't even know she was putting together.

_"Harry here tells me you have an orb that can find me. Must've belonged to my mother. I want that too and then we have deal."_

_"You do not get to win every time."_

_"The water droplets began to rise from the floor in the collective bunch and banded together to make what looked like a crown made of water."_

_"A water crown? What? Is Uma gonna be queen of the sea?"_

_"I have to say, I was wondering when you all would finally break out of there."_

"You tricked us." Mal whispered, astonished by her new discovery. For the first time since everybody got there, Uma was quiet for a moment. "Wasn't that obvious?"

"No, I mean that you've been spying on us. You didn't want the orb for any sentimental shit, you wanted it so you could watch every move. That's how you kept picking us off one by one even when Evie had surprised Gil in his room with Doug and Gil had to take them both down. That's how you knew how to stop us when we split up and ran for our lives. That's how you knew that you won the battle before it even started!"

For a painfully long stretch of time, everyone was silent. A smile crept onto Uma's face as she got off her throne and stood up. "If only you'd figure that out ages ago. You and your friends might've stood a chance.

Lost in rage, the only thing she's felt in days, Mal started to march over to her with her eyes glowing at their brightest green. "I AM GOING TO SKIN YOU ALI-" Mal screamed, being pulled back by the guard who had chains attached to her manacles. The others wanted to reach out for her but there was little they could do. Uma casually sat back on the thrown. "Don't feel bad. The orb wasn't all I had in mind. Bring them over."

The guards holding Jane and Lonnie dragged them over to Uma's side despite their struggles to not be moved. Feeling more awake in days, all of them stood around in tense nervousness for what Uma had in mind.

"Let them go Uma!" Carlos yelled. Uma looked falsely taken aback. "Little puppy's got some bite to him now doesn't he? Speaking of which." Uma stood up again and walked behind the throne where Dude was leashed with a muzzle of his own. She picked him up and personally handed him back to Carlos.

"I figured you might want him back and for a dog, he is very chatty." In his chains, Carlos did his best to snuggle Dude to him who was more squirmy than usual.

"Is there a point to all of this Uma?" Jay asked as Uma made herself comfortable on the throne once again. "But of course. You see, I was stuck between killing you to make an example or something else but Harry here helped me came up with an even better solution. See now all he said was to keep you alive but there's no fun in that. So where's a place where we could all have fun or more accurately, you have fun?"

"How about anywhere other than here?" Jay spat.

"Even the Isle?"

Chills went down several spins as everybody slowly caught onto what Uma was hinting. 

"Uma," Mal warned, "Don't do this."

"Oh Malsy. We're long past the days of you telling me what to do and me listening."

"Uma if you do this there is no coming back from this. We will come for you. _I_ will come for you!"

"I'm truly shaking in my crown." The guard holding Mal added a bit more strength to it seeing as she was writhing around trying to get closer to Uma. It made her chains tighten which made Mal cry out in pain which made Ben, Jay and just about everybody else in chains trying to go over and help only to be pulled back on their own manacles.

"Relax. Not all of you are going. Some of you have to stay here." Uma looked over to Jane and Lonnie who were still struggling in their chains themselves, "I hear Lonnie's quite the ambassador and Jane is always good to keep around for insurance. Do you know how useful it is to have a full fledged powerful fairy bent to your will?" She asked rhetorically.

"The rest of you however...well let's just say that I hope you can give the Isle your best smile...before the inhabitants rip out your teeth of course."

"Oh God...our parents." Carlos whispered in fear.

"Doesn't everybody on the Isle hate you?" Audrey asked, "Hate us?"

"Harry! Why are doing this? I thought we were roommates, I thought we were friends! What about Ben? You really gonna do this to him? To all of us?! " Chad screamed. Doug looked over to Gil who wore a guilty and apologetic look on his face. And Ben?

Ben still hadn't looked up from the ground.

"I thought you'd all like to say you're goodbyes seeing as you will all be leaving right about...now." Uma waved her hand gesturing to take them away and all the screaming and thrashing had started. Jane cried out for her mother and Carlos, Lonnie cried out for her friends. Evie, Chad, Audrey, Ben, Doug, Carlos and Jay all thrashed in their chains trying to escape despite the pain, despite it being futile.

As Uma dismissed her court and the inmates were being dragged away Mal was the only one still left screaming. "DON'T DO THIS TO US UMA! YOU WILL REGRET THIS, I PROMISE! THIS ISN'T THE WAY TO GO! WE BROUGHT YOU TO AURADON, WE WERE KINDER TO YOU! AT LEAST DON'T TAKE ALL OF THEM, TAKE ME! I'M THE ONE YOU REALLY HATE!

"UMA!"

* * *

Ironically enough, the skies were clear, the day was bright and the shine shone as the eight of them were forced into the limos and driven down to the bridge were they would meet their new fate.

They all sat there shocked, angry and scared. For who knew what challenges were waiting for them on The Isle of the Lost? These limo seats would probably be the last comfortable thing they had for a long, long time.

Audrey was openly crying with Chad trying and ultimately failing at trying to comfort her due to the restriction of his chains. Doug was snuggled into Evie and Carlos held Dude, seeking any comfort he could. Jay sat next to a desolate Ben, almost squirming in anger.

"So this is it? This is how our story ends?" Carlos asked with his voice cracking, "Being sent back to the place that left us broken in the first place?"

Mal whipped her head to the left where Carlos sat next to her. "No way. This is not how we go down, this isn't how our story ends." She looked out the window where the large gray cloud that always loomed above the Isle loomed over her and the rest of her friends now, eyes glowing not with their usual green light but fierce determination to survive once again.

"Not yet."

* * *

                                                        _Don't pout. You didn't think this was the end of the story...d_ _id you?_  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. 
> 
> One year and 132,203 words. What a sticky situation to end the story with.
> 
> ...Because this is the end.
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> ...Good thing there's gonna be a sequel.
> 
> AH! I've been wanting to tell you (whoever you are) this for ages but I had to keep my mouth shut! Since I'll hopefully be seeing you all again soon, I'll keep this brief. The sequel is called, Of Broken Crowns, Hearts And Kingdoms. It should be easy to find because there's a 90% chance that I'm going to put it under my actual username instead of the anonymous tagline because...why not?
> 
> Alrighty. That's about it. I guess I'll see you all later.


End file.
